Inside Piapiri: Rethinking digital investing and robo-advisory
In this interview, İlker Özten, Senior Director of Digital Channels & Business Development at ÜNLÜ & Co and co-founder of the trading app Piapiri, shares insights into the evolution of digital investing and the growing role of robo-advisory.
In this interview, İlker Özten, Senior Director of Digital Channels & Business Development at ÜNLÜ & Co and co-founder of the trading app Piapiri, shares insights into the evolution of digital investing and the growing role of robo-advisory.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I have nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, with a strong focus on capital markets, investment products, and digital financial platforms. For the past decade, I have been part of ÜNLÜ & Co, one of Turkey’s leading independent investment services groups, where I have worked on developing and scaling investment solutions across capital markets and digital channels.
Throughout my career, I have been closely involved in initiatives that combine financial expertise with technology-driven innovation. I have consistently focused on building customer-centric investment products, simplifying complex financial concepts, and expanding access to professional-grade investment tools for a broader investor base.
I am also a co-founder of Piapiri, where my motivation has been to bridge the gap between traditional brokerage models and the expectations of today’s digital-native investors, combining a simplified user experience with institutional-grade investment tools—grounded in transparency, investor education, and long-term value creation.
Can you tell us about Piapiri?
Piapiri was launched as a corporate entrepreneurship initiative within ÜNLÜ & Co, one of Turkey’s leading independent investment services groups. The idea behind Piapiri was to rethink how individual investors interact with capital markets and to build a digital-first investment platform that combines institutional expertise with a modern, user-centric experience.
The platform was created to address a clear market need: while investment products were becoming more diverse and sophisticated, many individual investors were still underserved in terms of usability, transparency, and education. Piapiri was designed to close this gap by offering an intuitive yet comprehensive investment experience under a trusted institutional umbrella.
Today, Piapiri primarily serves clients in Turkey and provides access to a wide range of capital market instruments. These include Turkish and US equities, investment funds, Eurobonds, derivatives, and other investment products, all accessible through a single digital platform.
Piapiri is built and operated by a multidisciplinary team combining capital markets expertise, technology, product design, and data-driven insights. While we benefit from ÜNLÜ & Co’s strong institutional background and regulatory experience, Piapiri operates with the agility of a fintech venture—allowing us to innovate quickly and continuously improve the user experience.
Rather than positioning Piapiri solely as a trading platform, we see it as a long-term investment companion, supporting investors not only in executing transactions but also in understanding markets, managing risk, and building sustainable investment strategies over time.
How do you use AI, and more specifically robo-advisors?
At Piapiri, we view artificial intelligence as a strategic enabler rather than a fully autonomous decision-maker. Our approach to AI focuses on enhancing investor understanding, personalization, and decision support—while preserving transparency and user control.
In addition to AI-driven insights and portfolio analytics, we have recently integrated an in-house developed AI tool directly into the Piapiri platform. This tool is designed to help investors interpret information rather than simply consume raw data, reinforcing our belief in “assisted intelligence” over black-box automation.
The tool operates across three core modules: News Analysis, which aggregates and interprets company-specific news; Fundamental Analysis, which analyzes balance sheets, cash flow, and income statements; and Rival Analysis, which enables side-by-side comparisons of two companies based on their financial fundamentals.
Rather than making decisions on behalf of investors, these AI-powered features are designed to reduce information overload and support more confident, informed decision-making. The final investment decision always remains with the user.
When it comes to robo-advisory more broadly, we deliberately favor hybrid models that combine algorithmic analysis with human judgment. In this sense, AI at Piapiri functions as a co-pilot rather than an autopilot—supporting investors with insight and context while respecting individual preferences and long-term goals.
How interested are customers in robo-advisory services in Turkey?
In Turkey, robo-advisory adoption is driven by digital appetite but constrained by trust and explainability needs in a volatile macro environment. Within this context, interest in robo-advisory services in Turkey has been steadily increasing, particularly among younger and digitally savvy investors who are comfortable using technology to manage their finances.
The growing availability of investment products and higher market participation have also contributed to this interest.
In practice, adoption has been more active in specific areas—most notably in fund management and model portfolio solutions. In these use cases, investors tend to be more comfortable with algorithm-driven allocation and rebalancing, as the underlying assets are already professionally managed and diversified.
That said, fully automated, discretionary robo-advisory models still face a degree of hesitation when applied directly to individual stock selection. Market volatility, high inflation environments, and past financial shocks have made many investors cautious about delegating decisions entirely to algorithms without sufficient transparency or explanation.
What we observe instead is strong demand for hybrid models—solutions that combine automation with user control and clear guidance. This preference is also reflected in how investors engage with AI-powered tools. Solutions that help interpret news, financial statements, and peer comparisons—without removing decision authority—tend to see higher adoption and trust.
Education plays a critical role in this transition. As investors become more familiar with how AI-driven insights are generated and presented, confidence in robo-supported solutions increases. Platforms that prioritize clarity and avoid “black-box” decision-making are better positioned for long-term engagement.
Overall, robo-advisory in Turkey is not just a question of technology adoption, but of trust, clarity, and alignment with investor behavior. Solutions that respect these dynamics are well-positioned to grow.
What’s next for robo-advisory?
The next phase of robo-advisory will be defined less by automation alone and more by intelligence, transparency, and personalization. Rather than replacing human decision-making, future models will focus on augmenting investor capabilities and adapting to individual behaviors, goals, and market conditions.
We expect robo-advisory to evolve from static, rule-based allocation models toward more dynamic systems that integrate real-time data, behavioral finance, and contextual insights. These systems will not only suggest actions, but also explain why certain options may be relevant, helping investors build confidence and long-term discipline.
This evolution is already underway through modular and explainable AI capabilities. Tools that analyze news, company fundamentals, and peer performance in a transparent way represent an early form of next-generation robo-advisory—one that informs rather than dictates.
Another important shift will be the deeper integration of robo-advisory into the broader investment journey. Instead of existing as a standalone product, robo capabilities will increasingly be embedded across discovery, portfolio construction, risk management, and post-investment monitoring.
At Piapiri, we see robo-advisory as a long-term layer rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. Its real value lies in empowering investors with better insights, clearer understanding, and stronger decision frameworks—ultimately supporting more sustainable investment outcomes.
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