Burak Ozan is the Associate Director leading the strategy and execution of Verizon’s Shopping Journey experience for all digital channels. He has over a decade of experience spanning small to mid-sized companies and enterprise-level organizations, with a focus on driving digital growth. His career path includes roles in marketing technology, agile transformation, product management, and experimentation.
In our chat, Burak shared how experimentation helps his team improve digital products. At Verizon, A/B testing is a big part of their process to test ideas and make better decisions, but he emphasizes that not everything needs to be tested.
You don’t need to test everything. That balance is critical—sometimes the data and expertise you already have is enough. But for high-risk or high-effort changes, testing is a must.
He talked about how his team uses tools like customer feedback and data to identify what works best and keep projects moving forward. For him, collaboration across teams—like marketing, product, and tech—is key to making real progress.
Burak also discussed the future of digital products with AI and how Verizon aims to become the “best AI company.” Currently, AI is helping teams work faster and create more personalized experiences. In the future, he envisions AI working alongside people to build smarter systems and better customer experiences. To him, the biggest challenge lies in getting the right data and building teams that can adapt to all this change.
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Burak and Verizon
(06:34) Experimentation Value in Large Organizations
(13:30) Balancing Leadership Intuition and Data-Driven Decisions
(16:28) Scaling Experimentation at Verizon
(22:38) Building Relationships for Successful Experimentation
(28:38) Importance of Networking and Relationship Building
(31:50) Subtle Tips on Getting Leadership Support
(35:29) AI's Short and Long-Term Role in Digital Product Teams
(40:32) Final Thoughts and Resources
Referenced
Blog: How a sense of urgency leads to growth at Duolingo - 5 Duolingo principles that guide their growth strategy.
Blog: How We reimagined A/B Testing at Squarespace - How Squarespace improved their tooling and experimentation culture to became faster, more accurate and more impactful.
Book: Small Is The New Big by Seth Godin - Seth Godin highlights how thinking small, being nimble, and focusing on meaningful connections can drive success in a world dominated by mass production and traditional corporate structures.
Book: Connect by Carole Robin - Carole explores how building deeper, more authentic relationships through vulnerability, trust, and effective communication can transform both personal and professional lives.
Book: Superminds by Thomas Malone - Thomas Malone reveals how groups of people, enhanced by technology, can work together as collective intelligences to solve complex problems and shape the future.
Digital Tools & Platforms
Where to find Burak Ozan
Upcoming Editions
Top Takeaways from 31 Experimentation Interviews in 2024
Personalization with Joshua Mabry
Product Experimentation at Lucid.co
Price Testing with Intelligems
📈 Looking for a Free 90-Minute Workshop to Kickstart Your CRO Program?
After recently posting on LinkedIn about a possible free, private 90-minute CRO workshop, the idea received pretty good engagement and sparked interest from the community. As a result, I’m officially offering this workshop to a limited number of in-house teams who are just starting out or are new to CRO and A/B testing.
This workshop is perfect for teams who are using or evaluating tools like Optimizely, VWO, Convert.com, AB Tasty, Kameleoon, Omniconvert, Varify.io®, or Webtrends Optimize. It's not about tool training—it's about equipping your team with the foundations to build a successful CRO program. Topics will include the fundamentals of CRO, prioritization frameworks, behavioral design principles, and more.
🎉 Bonus: If you’re looking for a testing platform and complete this workshop, I’ll have a few, exclusive vendor discount codes. I promise not to give a sales pitch for any of them, but I’m happy to pass along if you’re interested in exploring one of them. Again, they’re exclusive for this workshop.
If that interests you, reach out here to learn more or grab a spot. I’m not sure yet how many of these workshops I’ll be able to offer between now and the end of February but space is certainly limited!
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🎙️ How to Get Involved in EXO Field Notes
Want to elevate your personal brand and join me on EXO Field Notes? There’s no guarantee but there are a few paths you can take:
1:1 Interviews with top leaders in experimentation (think of it as your moment in the spotlight). Check out this example featuring Nike. If you see yourself there, let’s chat.
Micro-Interviews are perfect if you're just starting your thought leadership journey and want to dip your toes in the water. You can view past micro-interviews here.
Intimate Roundtable Discussions are reserved for 2-3 in-house brands at a time, designed for sharing peer-to-peer insights (minus the awkward office politics), like this one.
Ready to take the next step? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn to find out how you can get involved.
About the Author
I’m Brian Poe, Founder and Chief Optimization Officer of Mammoth Insights, where we specialize in helping companies enhance their digital strategies through Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and experimentation. With over 15 years of personal experience in the marketing industry, we have a deep passion for uncovering hidden opportunities in data to drive significant improvements in overall business performance. At Mammoth Insights, we offer affordable CRO services, including quant/qual research, market analysis, UX and copy research, A/B testing, and more, tailored specifically for mid-sized to enterprise companies. Our mission is to make complex CRO concepts easy to understand and implement at an affordable price without sacrificing expertise or quality.
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 more ways I can help:
1. Full-Service Experimentation: Looking for an all-in-one solution? Our experimentation service covers everything from crafting the strategy to executing the tests. We’re tool-agnostic, so there’s no need to change your setup. With all team members with 10+ years of experience working with companies like Best Buy and Verizon, we guarantee fast and effective results.
2. Conversion Research: Stop guessing and start converting. Our CRO service uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative UX research, including digital analytics and usability tests, to find what works best for your audience. I’ve helped brands like Capella University and Verizon Wireless achieve more with their existing traffic.
3. Brand Booster Roadmap: Future proof your brand experience. Work directly with Brian, Chief Optimization Officer, and Jennie, Head of Brand and former Head of Brand Strategy & Management at Wayfair. You’ll receive a comprehensive, tailored audit and brand strategy guide with data-driven recommendations. This includes brand positioning, online experience analysis, omni-channel content analysis, and a detailed brand experience roadmap. Contact us for a free consultation and to learn more.
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