{"id":162924,"date":"2025-05-12T16:06:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T20:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/?p=162924"},"modified":"2025-07-09T14:13:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:13:22","slug":"engineering-better-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/2025\/05\/12\/engineering-better-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Better Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

ECE Alum\u2019s $3M Start-Up Smooths Out Business Interactions<\/h3>\n

by A.J. Kleber<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Professional
Dr. Burak Aksar ’24<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ideas which inspired Burak Aksar (PhD\u201924)\u2019s start-up, Spiky.AI<\/a>, which <\/span>raised $3.2M<\/span><\/a> in its most recent round of seed funding, were sparked during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he was a Graduate Teaching Fellow for BU ECE.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gesticulating for emphasis, he explains, \u201cI remember the first Zoom classes, You\u2019re the only one to turn on your camera and it\u2019s like there is no one else in the call. Are they looking at me? Are they listening to me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want me to start?\u201d he pantomimes. \u201cNo answer. Okay, fine; I go ahead. I just talk for 45 minutes.\u201d Nobody had any questions; it was like speaking into a void, entirely without response or feedback of any kind. \u201cIf there\u2019s no feedback,\u201d Dr. Aksar explains, \u201cYou can\u2019t get better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although remote teaching methods and technologies have improved, and the quarantine period that kept students off-campus has long since ended, the experience left Aksar with a new sense of conviction about the value of reciprocal communication \u2026 and the consequences when it breaks down.<\/span><\/p>\n

As he completed his Ph.D. program, this conviction began to germinate into something more; <\/span>something which would eventually become Spiky.AI, post-graduation.<\/span><\/p>\n

From academic classes to business meetings<\/h3>\n

After completing his Ph.D. research, which centered on using machine learning to automate analysis of High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems, Dr. Aksar turned his ML know-how and drive to create solutions for optimizing online communication in a new direction: the business world. \u201cIt happened organically,\u201d according to Aksar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aksar describes Spiky as \u201ca unified intelligence layer for revenue teams;\u201d a sort of tireless digital assistant which can analyze conversations with customers, vendors and staff at a client organization. Highly customizable and versatile, it can operate at a variety of levels\u2013providing coaching suggestions in real time to a customer service professional during a call, or putting together higher-level reports for management\u2013all aimed at improving performance by optimizing communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA customer is yelling at me right now; what am I going to do?\u201d Unlike a GTF with a Zoom classroom populated by blank screens, an employee running Spiky isn\u2019t on their own in dealing with a breakdown of communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Spiky works<\/h3>\n

Named for the changes or \u201cspikes\u201d in conversations or interactions that it is intended to \u201csmooth out,\u201d Spiky draws its insights from the content of the conversation, as well as vocal and visual cues. By way of example, Aksar provided me with the Spiky report on our own chat, complete with a transcript, accurate summaries which capture not only the topics discussed, but impressions regarding mood and attitude, and other metrics such as talking speed and participation ratios. (A quick, unscientific impression of the data? Dr. Aksar and this interviewer were both rather laid-back, but overall the interaction was a positive and enthusiastic one, and the subject did most of the talking.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screencap<\/p>\n

\"Excerpted<\/p>\n

A BU boost<\/h3>\n

According to Dr. Aksar, his time at BU had considerable influence on his career path (bumps in the road to remote learning notwithstanding). He lauds the ECE graduate program for providing him with an excellent grounding in applied machine learning and a variety of technical and transferable skills. More than that, he credits his graduate experience for teaching him critical thinking and for the opportunity to practice communicating clearly and effectively with stakeholders, such as <\/span>Sandia National Labs<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A faculty researcher like his mentor, <\/span>Professor Ayse Coskun<\/span><\/a>, he observes, operates a bit like a businessperson: applying for grants, managing student researchers, and starting with broad research concepts which must be honed and narrowed down to achieve a result. And of course, it\u2019s a comparison that applies in both directions. Aksar admits that he has never worked in a sales or support role himself; rather, he saw an opportunity and followed it, learning as he went. \u201cEvery day is like a new research project. You don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another crucial advantage Aksar gained from BU ECE? The networking connections that helped him find that opportunity, the niche which his company was then designed to fill. He\u2019s excited that, as an alumnus, he now has the opportunity to give back and even, perhaps, to be one of those important, game-changing contacts for current or future students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Above all, Dr. Aksar sees himself as a bridge-builder, fostering connections and helping others to fulfill their potential. Spiky is more than just an \u201cAI-powered sales conversational intelligence;\u201d it\u2019s an extension of its creator.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ECE alum\u2019s $3M AI start-up helps to analyze and smooth out business interactions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18241,"featured_media":162919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[236,982,978,975,907],"tags":[1121,479,280,288,291,339,1023,375,1340,446],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18241"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162924"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164842,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162924\/revisions\/164842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}