“No strategy, no matter how brilliant, could succeed unless people truly believed in it.” This is not a saying but a realization that changed everything for Burak Aktuğ, Managing Director, Versuni Middle East & Africa.
Beginning his career in highly diverse, multicultural environments, Burak quickly discovered that collaboration was the only true path to progress. Later, managing complex assignments in volatile markets strengthened his adaptability and reinforced a core belief: meaningful decisions are guided by values as much as by metrics. These formative experiences shaped a leadership philosophy rooted in resilience and empathy, qualities that continue to define Burak’s approach today.
At Versuni, Burak’s values fit right in. The company’s purpose is to turn houses into homes. It’s not just about appliances. It’s about trust with consumers and improving their everyday lives. For Burak, integrity and accountability matter most. So does the drive to keep getting better. That’s how he leads, and how he wants his teams to serve people across the region.
How Versuni Bridges Global Vision with Local Realities
Versuni is a leading name in home appliances, with a history spanning more than 130 years. It started as part of Royal Philips and became an independent company in 2021 under global investment ownership. Its product categories today cover kitchen and coffee appliances, climate control, garment care, floor care, and healthy cooking. With operations in over 100 countries and more than 900 patents, Versuni continues to strengthen its leadership in the industry.
Burak sees his role as Managing Director as connecting the company’s global vision with the region’s diverse local markets. The company follows a unified global direction. Yet he believes that it must also adapt to regional realities to stay relevant and practical.
Under his leadership, Versuni has become the market leader in small domestic appliances across the Middle East. In the Gulf region, there is great interest in premium and connected products. Meanwhile, the focus in developing countries has shifted towards accessibility and strong service coverage. Thus, the approach Burak takes is to tailor the company’s products to fit local lifestyles, rather than providing the same designs everywhere. He prioritizes flexibility while preserving the brand’s global identity.
Finding that balance is key, he says. It helps Versuni stay true to its purpose, ” to make life at home better, healthier, and easier, which remains relevant everywhere.”
Key Operational Challenges
Managing premium brands across the Middle East is not easy. Some major challenges here are currency fluctuations, logistical bottlenecks, and evolving regulations. To handle these issues in the market, Burak explains, Versuni needed to be agile. When global supply chains became disrupted, the business shifted to a more agile way of planning production and distribution. They also fostered much stronger distributor relationships and leveraged data to predict demand better. All of this stabilization helped maintain business trust with their partners.
Versuni is a large company, generating more than €3 billion in annual global sales. With this scale comes both strength and responsibility. People who buy Versuni products expect top-quality, dependable performance. This includes appliances such as the Philips Airfryer, which promotes healthier cooking. Another example of it is the Philips Fully Automatic Espresso Machine, which recreates café-style coffee at home. For Burak, keeping things running smoothly, known as “operational excellence,” isn’t just about being super-efficient. It’s really about ensuring they always deliver on the reliability and quality customers expect from the brand.
No wonder Burak is recognized as one of “MENA’s 10 Most Empowering Business Leaders to Watch in 2025.” He really knows how to keep all the balls in the air while blending vision, adaptability, and a relentless focus on excellence.
A Testing Time for Resilience in A Leader
The region has often been a litmus test of resilience amid geopolitical challenges. Burak recalls a time when a substantial shift within a couple of markets made planned sales irrelevant overnight. The solution was not to simply find a quick fix. It was to jointly acknowledge, communicate transparently, and work together to find solutions.
At Versuni, they stabilized operations through teamwork, patience, and trust. That moment reinforced Burak’s view that resilience is not a single process of overcoming adversity. When teams are mobilized to work together against uncertainty, real strength begins to grow.
Keeping Innovation Real at Versuni
At Versuni, innovation isn’t just something that happens only in the research lab. It’s part of everything the company does. They’re constantly redefining what’s possible at home. For example, they have developed the world’s first no-burn steam iron with OptimalTEMP technology. Now, no more scorching clothes. And then there’s their air purifier that uses AI technology. That dedication to progress is simply unmatched. At Versuni, they’re not just innovating for the sake of it. They do it to create these meaningful solutions that genuinely make life better and easier for people at home.
Innovation also means they have to be quick on the draw in how they actually work. Burak encourages setting up these cross-functional teams that he calls ‘squads.‘ Such practices bring together marketing, sales, and operations people to test new ideas quickly. Sometimes that means creating special product bundles for Ramadan. Other times, it means speeding up e-commerce adoption. “The principle is simple,” Burak notes, “empower teams to act fast while ensuring every innovation reflects our DNA of quality, sustainability, and trust.” Agility is about creating speed while keeping everything consistent and reliable.
Sustainability isn’t an Afterthought!
If innovation drives progress at Versuni, sustainability is never far behind. It is the core of their business model. They design every product to be energy efficient, recyclable, and built with considerations of circularity. They are always trying to ‘do more with less.’ That means reducing plastics in packaging and creating appliances that use less energy. The whole idea is to keep the environmental impact really low while giving customers the maximum benefit.
As a leader, Burak stays cautious while making decisions. His choices always strike a balance between commercial results and environmental responsibility. At Versuni, sustainability is not seen as merely meeting targets or obligations. It is a commitment to a long-term growth driver and a promise to future generations.
Putting Customers at the Pulse of Growth
Understanding consumers sits at the core of Versuni’s growth strategy. Instead of relying on assumptions, the company invests heavily in real feedback loops that reveal how people cook, clean, and live each day. This insight guides the development of intuitive, connected appliances designed to simplify routines and add meaningful value.
Equally important is the strength of the relationship beyond the purchase moment. Versuni maintains a solid network for spare parts availability and dependable service coverage across the region, essential pillars of long-term trust and brand loyalty.
HomeID, meanwhile, plays a different but complementary role. It serves as a digital community that deepens Versuni’s engagement with consumers, offering personalized experiences, hundreds of recipes, and smart features that enhance how products are used over time.
By combining insight-driven product design, reliable service infrastructure, and ongoing digital engagement through platforms like HomeID, Versuni ensures that customer trust fuels sustainable growth.
Moving Versuni from A Supplier to A Trusted Partner
When asked about one of his proudest achievements, Burak highlights one massive change. The transformation of how the company moved from being just a transactional supplier to a trusted partner in the region. It became a go-to name that distributors, retailers, and service providers can truly rely on for long-term value.
However, this change didn’t happen overnight. It rests on three main areas. Those dimensions are empowering employees, building culturally resonant marketing campaigns, and strengthening operational reliability. Employee engagement and recognition programs have demonstrably heightened motivation and engagement. Initiatives that are locally rooted, such as traditional coffee customs, have deepened relevance to the brand. Operational projects that have enhanced last-mile delivery and reworked distributor relationships have raised the bar for efficiency.
Taken together, these steps have strengthened Versuni’s presence and credibility across the Middle East and Africa. The company has cemented its leadership in small domestic appliances and expanded its market share. Partners now view Versuni as a long-term collaborator committed to shared success rather than short-term transactions.
For Burak, this achievement reflects what Versuni stands for: driving global appliance innovation, delivering consumer-focused solutions, and creating enduring value across the region. In essence, he has helped build a company that people trust, not just buy from.
Finding Balance in a Busy World
Many people often say there’s no perfect work-life balance. Burak agrees. For him, it’s more of a journey than a destination. As a Managing Director, his responsibilities are weighty and wide-ranging. What keeps him steady is a mix of discipline, clear priorities, and the ability to let go when needed.
Burak makes a point of carving out time for his family and his personal well-being. These are the moments that help him stay grounded and focused. At the same time, he trusts his teams to lead with independence, so no one needs to be micromanaged.
This approach creates space for everyone to breathe and flourish. It also lets Burak stay fully present, in both professional and personal spheres. As he often reminds his colleagues, being a good leader has less to do with working nonstop. It’s about showing up with clarity and energy when it matters most.
The Three Must-Have Qualities for Modern Leadership
Burak feels that, to really change the game in today’s home appliance world, you need three essential traits. They are, in his words, vision, empathy, and courage. Vision allows one to look ahead and figure out how technology, people’s day-to-day lives, and the push for sustainability are going to change. Empathy ensures that whatever decisions the leadership team makes really connect with employees and customers alike. It’s about truly understanding people. Courage enables bold moves, whether investing in breakthrough innovation, restructuring for agility, or taking a stand on sustainability.
At Versuni, they lead with these qualities every day. Result? Along with developing smarter, more sustainable appliances, the brand remains consumer-centric. Burak feels that incremental leadership is no longer enough. Just doing a little better than last year isn’t cutting the mustard.
True transformation really needs leaders who can see around the corner, connect with people’s needs, and then act decisively. That’s the real differentiator.
Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders
Mentorship means different things to different people. While some see it as a career fast-track, others consider it a mandatory chore. To Burak, it is a responsibility he takes seriously. At Versuni, he champions initiatives to provide platforms for young leaders. The intent is to thrust them into their own projects and learn by doing. Instead of rote instruction by bookish theory, this industry leader shares real-world experiences with them. Stories of both success and failure. So, they can understand the realities of leadership.
Burak’s advice to the aspirants is, “Be curious, be courageous, and never compromise on your integrity.” Over the years, he has crystallized one absolute thing. Titles and roles are just temporary trappings. But the values one embodies will define one’s legacy. We must say what a beautiful epiphany to lead by. In a global company with a footprint in over 100 countries and 6000 employees, value-driven leadership is what truly differentiates successful leaders.
Building a Lasting Legacy
“Actions speak louder than words.” This perfectly sums up the legacy Burak wants to leave. It has threefold. He wants stronger teams, more sustainable practices, and innovations that truly improve everyday life. Technology will keep changing how we live at home, and he knows that. Still, what matters most is how these changes make life easier, healthier, and more enjoyable.
At Versuni, the purpose extends far beyond creating appliances. The company’s ambition is to help people enjoy better living at home by shaping spaces where ease, comfort, and meaningful moments naturally unfold. Every innovation is designed to reduce the time and effort spent on daily tasks, giving individuals more space to focus on themselves and the people they care about.
This philosophy comes to life in many forms: climate-care solutions that maintain year-round comfort, kitchen appliances that simplify healthy cooking, floor-care tools that create a sense of calm and order, and coffee systems that bring a café-quality experience into familiar surroundings. Each product is built with one intention to elevate everyday living with thoughtful, reliable, and intuitive design.
For Burak, the legacy he aims to build is anchored in this vision. He seeks a future where innovation is connected, sustainable, and deeply human, enabling people to spend more time on what truly matters. “If we get this right,” he reflects, “Versuni will not only lead in the home appliance sector but also help redefine what home truly means.”
