The Visionary Summit, held every two years by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), was organized at the Atatürk Cultural Centre with a powerful gathering attended by more than 4,000 participants, under the main sponsorship of Türk Telekom and Trendyol.
The program, which aims to shed light on Türkiye's economic, cultural and technological vision, created a broad field of interaction by bringing together executives from the business world, academics, entrepreneurs and representatives of culture and media under the same roof. With its structure and content, the event drew attention for addressing Türkiye's strategic outlook towards the future from a holistic perspective.
In his opening speech, MÜSİAD President Burhan Özdemir stated that the world has been going through a major transformation process in recent years and said that the “Order – Disorder – Reorder” cycle points to a new global architecture. Özdemir emphasized that a new order is being built in every field, from economic balances to cultural interactions and from technological adaptation to international relations. Expressing that connectivity defines not only technological links but also the multi-layered forms of relations among societies, institutions, values and production systems, Özdemir stated that MÜSİAD stands at the centre of this process with an innovative posture.
In the sessions that continued throughout the day, Türkiye's production power, digital transformation capacity, competitive advantage in international trade, leap in the defence industry, climate-focused new industrialization trends and the effects of cultural interaction on global branding were addressed by expert names. While Türkiye's production- and export-oriented growth potential despite global financial fluctuations was assessed in the sessions titled economy, in the digitalization sessions it was discussed how artificial intelligence, automation, security technologies and digital infrastructures are reshaping trade. Within the scope of the event, a comprehensive panel was also held on cultural transformation, the media ecosystem and the role of art and culture policies in the new world order.
While Okan Bayülgen hosted the summit, the names who took the stage throughout the day consisted of important representatives of the economy, culture, technology and art worlds. After the opening speech, the first keynote address of the summit was delivered by world-renowned futurist Brett King. Artist Turan Manafzade, who took the stage twice during the day, added an artistic touch to the program with his piano recitals.
The economy panel was held under the moderation of Hakan Çelik, with the participation of David Aikman, Demet Sabancı Çetindoğan, Volkan Demiroğlu and Erdem İnân. Among the keynote speakers were Jan Haizmann and Türkiye Wealth Fund General Manager Arda Ermut, who made important assessments on the global economy and financial transformation. While Züleyha Ortak took on the moderation of the culture panel, Reshad Strik, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Dr. Naoki Yamamoto and journalist Arwa Damon shared their views on cultural transformation, media influence and social change.
The technology panel, on the other hand, was held under the moderation of National Technology General Manager Sadullah Uzun. In the panel, leading names of the sector such as IBM Türkiye General Manager Işıl Kılınç Gürtuna, Joey Jiang, Hans Neff and TUSAŞ Deputy General Manager Yavuz Emir Beyribey assessed innovations in artificial intelligence, digitalization and industrial technologies. In the “Duo Talks” section, one of the event's noteworthy sessions, Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı and Okan Bayülgen came together and held a conversation on history, humanity and the future.
MÜSİAD Visionary'25 went beyond being merely a business world event and also stood out with its emphasis on social responsibility. It was announced that the ticket revenues would be sent to Gaza as aid through the Turkish Red Crescent.
At the end of the event, plaques were presented to the sponsors who contributed to the realization of Visionary'25. The Main Sponsors of the summit were Trendyol and Türk Telekom, the Platinum Sponsors were Hepsiburada and Güçbir, the Gold Sponsors were Yıldız Holding, Türkiye Sigorta, Ensay and Roketsan, and the Silver Sponsors were Kuveyt Türk Portföy, Ziraat Katılım and TUSAŞ. The Mobility Sponsor was Tazı, while the Media Sponsors Albayrak Medya and Türk Medya took part in the program. In addition, Zivella, Albaraka, Bilet.com, Technopc and the Optimal Foundation contributed to the summit with their support. The event ended with the presentation of plaques, for which all sponsors were invited on stage.
MÜSİAD Visionary'25 was successfully completed as a summit that made important contributions to Türkiye's new century vision with the sessions it contained, the intellectual debates and its strategic approach to the future.
