Leadership

MEET THE PRORIZE TEAM

Prorize’s growing team of pricing scientists and thought leaders is dedicated to helping our clients transform how they price and extract maximum value from their portfolio of assets.

  • Dr. Ahmet Kuyumcu

    Founder & CEO

  • Peter Hansen

    Chief Growth Officer

  • Amber Hyde

    VP, Client Success

  • Dinesh Mehta

    VP of Products & Engineering

  • Can Hantas

    Director of Software Engineering

  • Nataliia Afanasieva

    Director of Data Engineering

  • Hasan Kuyumcu

    Director of Pricing Science

  • Fatih Demirkol

    Dir. of Science and Technology

  • Luke Woodward

    Director of Business Development

Dr. Ahmet Kuyumcu

Founder & CEO

Ahmet is responsible for running all facets of the business. A recognized expert in the field of pricing and revenue management, he assures that Prorize delivers the best-in-class pricing solution and continuously exceeds client’s expectations.

Ahmet has directed and built profit-generating pricing systems across a broad range of sectors. Previously Chief Scientist at Zilliant, a provider of price optimization solutions, Ahmet led and pioneered price optimization solution for the Zilliant product suite. Before Zilliant, he served as a Senior Scientist at Talus (now JDA).

At Talus, he engineered the scientific processes for the most successful pricing products in the travel-transportation, media, automotive and apartment industries. Ahmet also taught graduate-level classes in Pricing and Revenue Management at the University of Texas at Austin and the Indian School of Business.

Ahmet has authored and published several articles in professional journals and presented more than two dozen technical articles at conferences and universities around the world. He served on the boards of Pricing and Revenue Management section of INFORMS, and the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management.

Ahmet earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Operations Research from Texas A&M University.

When not crunching numbers, Ahmet can be found with his wonderful wife and three amazing children. He is an avid reader and enjoys traveling and exploring nature.

Peter Hansen

Chief Growth Officer

Peter is Chief Growth Officer and a seasoned leader with over 40 years of international business development and management expertise. Since joining the executive team in 2017, he has been instrumental in shaping Prorize’s global growth strategy, identifying and pursuing key business opportunities. Before Prorize, Peter held leadership roles in Denmark, the UK, and the US, notably with Maersk and the HVAC industry.
In his free time, you’ll find him perfecting his swing on the golf course or exploring new corners of the globe.

Amber Hyde

VP, Client Success

Amber is overseeing our clients’ setup, onboarding, training, and support processes. Amber brings a unique experience to her role as she was previously an end-user of Prorize’s Senior Living Rent Optimizer solution; both in her role as Pricing Manager for Holiday Retirement, and as Manager for Pricing and Revenue Management at Brookdale, the largest independent housing provider and the largest assisted living provider in the US, respectively.

Prior to her career in the senior housing industry, Amber worked for more than a decade in corporate real estate development, working for companies such as Nike, KinderCare, and Con-way.

Amber has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Redlands and an MBA from Portland State University.

In her free time, Amber is a regular volunteer at Habitat for Humanity and enjoys hiking with her dog on the weekends and exploring Atlanta.

Dinesh Mehta

VP of Products & Engineering

Dinesh is responsible for driving product innovation, strategy, and development, as well as the ongoing performance management of the engineering team for Prorize’s Self Storage Revenue Management (SSRO) and other revenue management technology solutions.

An experienced analytical executive, Dinesh has spent over 25 years implementing, designing, and researching: pricing, promotions, personalized marketing, revenue management, assortment, and marketing mix solutions for various verticals in many countries. He possesses extensive domain expertise in Retail Price Modeling & Optimization, B2B Price Modeling & Optimization, Assortment Modeling & Optimization, Marketing Mix Modeling & Optimization, Personalized Marketing, Segmentation/Clustering, and Recommender Systems.

Previously with Precima (now part of NielsenIQ), Dinesh successfully led analytical product development, research, analytical client delivery and helped build their products/solutions. Before that, Dinesh served as Director of Analytical Consulting at Marketing Analytics Inc (now part of Nielsen Marketing ROI), where his responsibilities included hands-on client delivery for analytical solutions, liaison with a leading strategic consulting group for marketing mix solutions and hiring and mentoring new associates. He has also held analytical positions at Zilliant and Talus/Manugistics (now part of JDA/Blue Yonder).

Dinesh received his bachelor’s in Production Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai – India, and his Masters from The University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa. When he is not working on analytical solutions, he often moonlights as an unpaid uber driver, driving his kids to various activities. In his spare time, he likes to travel, watch television, and follow up on sports, cheering for his university – Roll Tide!

Can Hantas

Director of Software Engineering

Can is responsible for architecting and developing software systems that meet and exceed the requirements of Prorize’s pricing scientists and clients.

Can studied Computer Science in three different countries for almost a decade. He has co-authored academic papers, worked as a researcher and as a teaching assistant in the field of computer programming, algorithms and database management. He holds B.E. in Computer Engineering from TOBB ETU and M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology.

In his free time, he enjoys learning about new technology. If he were stranded on a deserted island he would probably bring his wife, cat and laptop with him.

Nataliia Afanasieva

Director of Data Engineering

Nataliia leads our data engineering team. She oversees the integration of new data sources, providing the best quality transformation and data load, and enhancing existing database development operations and processes. She is also in charge of user experience and continuous improvement for our unique cloud-based pricing solutions.    

Prior to Prorize, Natalia was the Director of Software Engineering at Analytical Business Information Systems (ABIS-Ukraine).  During this time, she implemented numerous unique desktop applications for clients in the Financial, Accounting, Manufacturing, Tourism, Retail, and Insurance industries. 

Nataliia has a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the National Technical University of Ukraine. 

Natalie enjoys spending time with her family and exploring new places in her free time.  

Hasan Kuyumcu

Director of Pricing Science

Hasan leads the pricing science consultants, where he is responsible for the R&D for product offerings and overseeing the execution of scientific work delivered by Prorize.

In the past six years, Hasan led the enhancement of Prorize’s science, including applying AI-based procedures for demand forecasting, competitive pricing, and value pricing. He also led the automation of the critical science processes within Prorize.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Financial Mathematics from Istanbul Bilgi University and a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from Georgia State University.

Hasan enjoys hiking, water sports, cooking, and soccer outside of the office. He also loves traveling and visiting new places.

Fatih Demirkol

Dir. of Science and Technology

Fatih is responsible for data science and technology at Prorize, constantly pushing our solutions to new heights and ensuring exceptional client support for clients worldwide.

With over two decades of experience, his journey started in academia, holding a faculty position at University of Hawai’I, before venturing into the telecommunications sector in Turkey. There he spearheaded diverse technology teams, covering planning, operations, solution support, and research and development.

Fatih holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Outside of work, Fatih delights in culinary adventures, savoring global cuisines without concern for calories. To balance the indulgence, he’s a firm believer in regular exercise and exploration, keeping his mind and body sharp.

Luke Woodward

Director of Business Development

As Director of Business Development, Luke is involved in the complete relationship cycle with customers, starting with the initial point of contact through acquisition, and then remains an essential resource for our existing clients.

Luke brings a multi-faceted skill set to Prorize, with experience running an award-winning events business and as a business development executive for two SaaS companies.
His mechanical engineering educational background coupled with his experience developing meaningful relationships make him well-suited as a liaison between a technical SaaS solution provider like Prorize and our clients.

When Luke is not at work, he’s spending time wrangling his two identical twin boys, beautiful daughter, and wife (not necessarily in that order), as well as volunteering for the Dads of Castle Rock Community Outreach, cooking, playing softball or spending time woodworking.

REQUEST A FREE PRICING ASSESSMENT

Schedule 45 minutes today with the Prorize team to better understand the health
of your pricing process and opportunities to generate incremental revenue.

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