AI/ML Product & Engineering Leader - PMP, PSM-I

Beran Acar, MSc, PMP, PSM-I

E-mail: *********@*****.*** Mobile: +1-650-***-****

linkedin.com/in/beranacar/ Cupertino, CA

Authorized to work in the U.S. without any sponsorship PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Agile and servant leader with 10+ years of professional experience, including 8+ years in product and program management and 3+ years in the semiconductor industry. Proven expertise in:

- Leading cutting-edge AI/ML powered solutions and mission-critical electro-mechanical hardware and software products,

- Managing project management teams and cross-functional development teams, and product lifecycle management

- Developing strategic product roadmap architectures for AI/ML, robotics, acoustics, and IT products.

- Driving marketing, business development, and sales efforts with advanced presentation skills on technical subjects for technical and non-technical international audiences. Holds an MSc in Electrical & Electronics Engineering with high honors and is a certified PMP and PSM-I. CERTIFICATIONS

UCSC Silicon Valley Extension, Santa Clara, CA (Completed)

• Project & Program Management Certificate Jun 2025

• Lean-Agile Project Management Specialization Mar 2025

• AI Strategies, Productivity, and Practices Specialization May 2025 Agile MBA (The Job Hackers) June 2025

Project Management Professional (PMP) (PMI project management certification) Apr 2024 Professional Scrum Master I (PSM-I) Aug 2022

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Aug 2018

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

11Sight Berkeley, CA Dec 2024 – Present

Engineering Program Manager – Conversational AI, Technical Product Manager AI/ML Products

• Managed agile teams;

o The software development team of Gen-AI-powered real-time call center automation solutions using Jira.

(Service AI Agent, Outbound AI Agent, Sales AI Agent, Front-desk AI Agent, Hospitality AI Assistant), o Data analysis team, training ML algorithm which is capable of analyzing AI Agents, classifying conversations, calculating accuracy and performance as well as preparing dashboard SaaS solutions for customers.

• Executed end-to-end product lifecycle management (PLM) by preparing and communicating project requirements, Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), project schedules, release trackers, budgets and risk assessments,

• Set lean and agile product roadmap, defined platform features, developed use cases, prepared project reports/dashboards, delivered stakeholder presentations, led customer demonstrations and finalized sales.

• Build a bridge between customers and developers; managed customer experience and identified customer requirements, developed user stories, structured product backlog, drove increments and demonstrated the results.

• Customers agreed to increase the number of our agents to 2x in 4 months and to 10x by the end of the year 2026. ASELSAN (Leading defense electronics company with 13.5k employees) Ankara, Turkey Mar 2017 – Aug 2024 Engineering Program Manager (EPM), Senior Product Manager (Robotics, Acoustics, IT, Software)

• Led strategic product development of mission-critical electro-mechanical hardware and software solutions.

• Owned, built, organized, executed agile project plans through Microsoft project, prepared and managed product roadmaps, program works, action items through Jira, and led risks, mitigation plans, ideas, and program status.

• Managed supply chain and procurement operations internationally, managed delivery and integration of scalable Sensor Integration Software solution to 10+ national and international customers for critical infrastructures.

• Defined and executed multi-year product roadmaps of acoustic systems, robotics, IT systems and security software.

• Managed cross-functional communications, primarily leading engineering/development teams by overseeing system design and executing prototyping, as well as leading manufacturing, legal, financial, and analytics teams.

• Performed profitable business development and sales efforts; analyzing competitors, creating strategic marketing plans, positioning products, managing regular customer engagements for penetrating the market.

• Sold and managed these sales projects for; 1000+ units of acoustic detection systems, 32 units of robotic arm systems and several 100 units of Remote Controlled Weapon Station Systems (RCWSS),

• Managed product requirements, product engineering, product development, external and internal stakeholders, led market search, customer feedback, supply chain, service and operations to deliver seamless product experience. GUNAM (Ankara, Turkey) & IMEC (Leuven, Belgium) Jun 2015 – Feb 2018 R&D Engineering Roles (Renewable Energy, Semiconductors)

• Simulated and optimized IBC solar cells using Silvaco and Sentaurus simulation tools.

• Fabricated IBC solar cells in a cleanroom environment, performed wet bench, dry bench processing, thermal oxidation passivation techniques and doped solar cells with phosphorus and boron diffusion with tube furnace.

• Utilized photolithography (spin coating, mask alignment, UV exposure) and etching techniques.

• Conducted metal deposition, annealing and performed advanced electrical and optical characterization.

• Carried out IV curve measurements, quantum efficiency, Suns-Voc testing to evaluate performance and efficiency.

• Successfully fabricated and optimized IBC solar cells, achieving over 19% efficiency. This work paved the way for further optimizations, later surpassing 20% efficiency in follow-up studies building on my research.

• Completed thesis titled ‘A Numerical Analysis of Interdigitated Back Contacted Silicon Solar Cells.’ (Feb 2018) BIOMEMS (Ankara, Turkey) Feb 2015 – Jun 2015

R&D Engineer Role (Healthcare, Lab-on-a-Chip, MEMS)

• Conducted R&D at ‘Development of Lab-on-a-Chip System for Rare Cell Screening’ project.

• Developed microtubule integrated MEMS device for precise blood sample analysis.

• Identified cancer cells in a blood flow by leveraging MEMS technology. EDUCATION

• Master of Science (MSc), Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey 2018

• Exchange MSc, Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

• Bachelor of Science (BSc), Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Silicon Valley Project Management Community (SVPM) Associate Product Owner (Volunteer)

• Practiced Agile project management and Scrum methodologies to support a global PM community. PMI Silicon Valley Chapter

Project Manager at Outreach Team (Volunteer)

• Coordinated outreach initiatives and strengthened community engagement. KEY SKILLS & EXPERTISE

• Project and Product Management Professional:

Expert in leading large-scale multi-functional Hardware and Software programs, product lifecycle management

(PLM), product marketing, creating and managing technical product roadmaps, stakeholder management, B2B, risk management, process improvement, data-driven, hardware engineering, prompt engineering, product leadership, ability to lead, project communication management, procurement, change management, supply chain

• Agile and Servant Leader:

Agile development methodologies, flexible and adaptable mindset

• Technically Expert in:

AI and Gen-AI applications, Prompt Engineering, Machine Learning, Robotics, Semiconductors, and Data science

• Marketing & Business Development & Sales:

Advanced technical presentation skills for diverse audiences, proven sales records over $100M

• Customer Success:

Customer-focused, feedback-driven and pain-point solving product development, customer experience, business opportunities, customer service, account management, customer needs, and stakeholder engagement

• Communication & Leadership:

Excellent cross-functional written and verbal communication and collaboration skills, professional communication, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, depth perception, accountability, attention to detail, and creative leadership

• Tools & Platforms: PLM tools, Teamcenter, Jira, Trello, Confluence, project management tools, project management software, ERP, SAP, MS Project, Primavera, CRM, Saas, SQL, Microsoft Office suite, Excel, Colab

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