Sarasota2018 – Keynote Panelists’ Bios


Mr. Arden Agopyan is an experienced entrepreneur and business development executive with a proven track record.

Prior to founding HotelRunner, he led IBM’s Cloud Computing Software technical sales and market creation activities across Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa.

His areas of expertise also include international team management, business execution, strategic marketing and financial management.

As a talented hacker coming from software development background, along seventeen years of business experience in technology, Arden is a Ph.D. candidate in Finance, holds a BSc in Computer Engineering degree and an MBA. Arden speaks five languages and is also Advisory Chair for Cloud Computing at International Academy, Research and Industry Association and co-author of a book, academic journals and articles.


Mr. Ali Beklen is a second-time entrepreneur, and he brings to HotelRunner a refined focus on the technical and business areas and also participates in driving the vision and product strategy.

Prior to founding HotelRunner, Ali gave strategic business and technical consulting for large enterprises at IBM and worked with CxOs, business and technical teams. Ali also bootstrapped and executed number of projects, ranging from helping startups establish a technical vision, to mission critical enterprise solutions. Ali is Advisory Chair for Software Service Computation at International Academy, Research and Industry Association and he has publications in international refereed journals.

Ali is also a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Engineering, holds a MSc in Computer Engineering and has a B.A. in Economics.