PeopleStrong, Asia’s leading human capital management (HCM) SaaS company, today announced the appointment of Tayfun Topkoc as Senior Vice President – International. The appointment comes at a time of strong momentum for the company, following strategic investments from Goldman Sachs and the addition of Dinesh Khara, former Chairman of the State Bank of India, to the PeopleStrong Board.
Tayfun brings deep industry expertise and a strong track record of leadership, growth, and execution across technology and innovation-led organisations. Over the past decade, he has played a central role in leading large-scale digital transformation and enterprise technology initiatives across the UAE, the wider Middle East, and international markets, working closely with governments, regulators, and complex organisations navigating growth and change. He has held senior leadership roles at Akinon, SAS, SAP, and Hewlett-Packard (HP). Named the Most Successful Chief Digital Officer in the Middle East in 2018, Tayfun was also featured in Fast Company’s Digital 100 list in both 2020 and 2021. Beyond his corporate leadership roles, he brings extensive experience as an executive educator and board member, actively supporting women’s leadership and education initiatives.
Commenting on the appointment, Sandeep Chaudhary, CEO, PeopleStrong, said: “Across the Middle East, workforce transformation has become a national priority and a competitive differentiator. Over the next decade, the region’s success will be shaped by talent, agility, and intelligence. We are delighted to welcome Tayfun at this pivotal moment. His deep regional expertise, combined with our future-ready agentic AI technology, positions PeopleStrong strongly to help enterprises build AI-enabled people operations designed to scale. Tayfun’s experience in building and scaling technology businesses across the region gives us the leadership depth required to accelerate execution and deepen our presence across MENA.”
Tayfun Topkoc, Senior Vice President – International, PeopleStrong, said: “Having worked extensively across the Middle East and international markets, what struck me immediately about PeopleStrong is the clear focus on enabling what’s next for talent and work.”
“PeopleStrong has long been at the forefront of shaping the future of talent. I am excited to work with the teams to unlock opportunities across MENA and beyond, helping organisations build high-impact workforces where businesses grow sustainably,” he added.
As Senior Vice President – International, Tayfun will spearhead PeopleStrong’s international growth strategy, with an initial focus on accelerating momentum across the MENA region. He will be based in Riyadh. His appointment strengthens PeopleStrong’s regional leadership bench, bringing deep enterprise credibility and a strong understanding of local market dynamics, regulatory environments, and customer expectations. PeopleStrong has invested heavily in AI-led agentic architecture through MAAX (Multi-Agent Architecture driven Experience) and continues to advance agentic AI–driven HR technology through key launches such as its AI Co-Recruiter and Employee Relations (ER) Agent, both of which have already generated strong interest in the market.
PeopleStrong powers over 500 enterprises, serves more than 2 million users, and processes over 1.75 million paychecks every month. PeopleStrong’s HR mobile app is among the highest-rated globally, with a 4.8/5 rating across iOS and Android. The company has consistently featured in Gartner’s Voice of the Customer report and has been named a Customers’ Choice for Cloud HCM Suites for enterprises with over 1,000 employees from 2022 to 2025.
