Early AI adopters in Türkiye’s manufacturing sector report double-digit efficiency gains

AI is starting to move from pilots to production across Türkiye’s $608 billion manufacturing sector, with early adopters reporting double-digit gains in output, productivity, downtime and energy use. Industry speakers at GITEX Ai Türkiye say the biggest obstacle is now data governance, not model performance.

Why it matters: - Türkiye’s manufacturing sector accounts for about a fifth of GDP, so AI-driven gains can ripple across the broader economy. - Early adopters are already seeing measurable improvements in output, productivity, quality, downtime and energy use. - Industry speakers say the next bottleneck is not AI capability, but whether manufacturers can build the data and governance foundations needed to scale.

What happened: - Industry experts speaking ahead of GITEX Ai Türkiye said AI-native production is taking shape across Turkish manufacturing. - Efe Erdem, general manager of MEXT, said companies are improving production output by 10% to 20%, increasing employee productivity by 7% to 20%, reducing unplanned downtime by 10% to 30%, and lowering energy consumption by 5% to 15%. - Erdem will join a fireside chat on AI-native production at GITEX Ai Türkiye, set for 9-10 September 2026 at Istanbul Expo Centre. - Lina Hushki, director of innovation and digital transformation at the Amman Chamber of Industry, will also speak on the factory-focused panels next month.

The details: - MEXT assessed more than 200 Turkish manufacturers through AIxplore, its AI maturity methodology. - The assessment found uneven maturity across factories and sectors, but also rapid progress in Türkiye. - Erdem said AI creates the most value when it becomes part of core business processes rather than a stand-alone experiment. - One agentic AI project cut quotation work from days to minutes and improved pricing accuracy and customer responsiveness. - Hushki said Arçelik’s Eskişehir factory, a World Economic Forum Lighthouse site, reported 20% fewer customer complaints, 43% more capacity and 17% lower conversion cost from AI-supported decisions. - Hushki said those results should be read as a direction, not a promise, because there are 238 Lighthouse sites among hundreds of thousands of factories. - Erdem said the automotive sector is leading Türkiye’s AI adoption, driven by machine vision and predictive maintenance. - Erdem said white goods and electronics manufacturers are also moving quickly because export exposure forces them to compete on digital capability, quality and operational excellence.

Between the lines: - The message from speakers is that many manufacturers are trying to scale AI too early. - Erdem said the common mistake is launching multiple pilots before proving value in one process and before putting robust OT data governance in place. - The emphasis on governance suggests Turkish manufacturers may need more process discipline and cleaner industrial data before AI can deliver enterprise-wide returns. - Hushki’s regional lens also shows Türkiye’s model factory network is becoming a reference point for neighboring markets.

What’s next: - GITEX Ai Türkiye will run as a two-day debut event with more than 300 exhibitors and startups, 100 global speakers and 100-plus investors. - Thousands of tech executives are expected to attend, linking Türkiye’s AI sector with global capital and commercial partners. - Confirmed participants include Google Cloud, HPE & NVIDIA, AWS, ASUS, Dell Technologies, Huawei, SAP, Schneider Electric and TrendAI. - Regional companies Trendyol, Andevos and Halkbank are also listed among the participants. - The event is hosted by the Investment and Finance Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, in strategic partnership with Türkiye’s Ministry of Industry and Technology, and is powered by GITEX and organised by inD.

The bottom line: - Türkiye’s manufacturers are moving from AI experimentation to measurable industrial gains, but scaling those gains will depend on trusted data, standardised processes and stronger governance across IT and OT systems.