Arda Bulut
Co-Founder & CTO of Bourne
Arda Bulut is the co-founder and CTO of Bourne and HockeyStack. He works on the engineering behind software that connects business data and helps people act on it.
He co-founded HockeyStack with Buğra Gündüz and Emir Atlı. The team joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2023 batch and built a platform that brings customer information from separate business systems into one place. In a discussion of the platform’s architecture, he and Buğra explained how they built it. At the time, HockeyStack reported processing more than 50 million records a day.
At Bourne, he leads engineering across the platform for building AI apps, agents and automations. He focuses on the foundations that let others build and run their own products: connecting data and tools, managing access, and supporting agents that carry out work over time. His work brings together the infrastructure behind those products and the experience of the people who use them.
Articles by Arda Bulut
54 articlesRFQ intake checklist for industrial OEMs
A practical industrial RFQ intake checklist for technical files, cost drivers, delivery, commercial terms, open questions and release to estimating.
Industrial OEM guideHow to score manufacturing RFQs
Score manufacturing RFQs with clear gates, evidence, weighted factors, unknowns, live capacity, bid economics and delivered-order feedback.
Industrial OEM guideTechnical clarification in manufacturing RFQs
Resolve missing, unclear and conflicting manufacturing RFQ requirements with controlled questions, owners, revisions and quote updates.
Industrial OEM guideAI document review for engineering teams
Use AI to review specifications, drawings, spreadsheets and product data with source evidence, conflict checks, engineering approval and measured accuracy.
Industrial OEM guideManufacturing CPQ: a practical buyer’s guide
Compare manufacturing CPQ software for product configuration, CAD and BOM automation, pricing, proposals, exceptions, order handoff and model ownership.
Industrial OEM guideShould-cost software for industrial OEMs
Compare should-cost software for industrial OEMs, including aPriori, Teamcenter, FACTON, DFMA, costdata, Costimator, PartSpace and Bourne.
Industrial OEM guideSupplier RFQ software for industrial OEMs
Compare supplier RFQ software for industrial OEMs across direct-material sourcing, BOM events, supplier collaboration and customer-bid execution.
Industrial OEM guideMake-or-buy analysis for customer bids
Compare the relevant internal cost, constrained capacity, landed supplier offer, schedule, quality and control for an industrial OEM customer bid.
Industrial OEM guideHow to set margin approval rules
Set manufacturing margin approval rules with clear cost bases, product-family targets, authority bands, confidence checks and strategic overrides.
Industrial OEM guideRFP response software for manufacturers
Compare Bourne, Inventive, Loopio, Responsive, Arphie and Qvidian for industrial RFPs, buyer workbooks and engineered proposals.
Industrial OEM guideHow to build a manufacturing compliance matrix
Build a manufacturing compliance matrix that ties every customer requirement to the offered value, evidence, owner, qualification and proposal section.
Industrial OEM guideSales order automation for industrial OEMs
Turn cleared industrial orders into validated ERP sales orders, project structures, supply actions, delivery schedules and billing milestones.
Industrial OEM guideSales-to-engineering handover for industrial OEMs
Turn a cleared industrial order into an engineering release package with requirements, configuration, deliverables, supplier evidence, customer inputs and controlled execution gates.
Industrial OEM guideEngineer-to-order handoff software
Compare Bourne, IFS, SAP, Oracle, Infor, Epicor and PLM for sales-to-engineering handoff, project manufacturing, product baselines and order release.
Industrial OEM guideHow to price engineering change orders
Price engineering change orders from current execution state, added and deleted work, supplier commitments, rework, schedule recovery, overhead, risk and margin.
Industrial OEM guideInstalled base management for OEMs
Build an industrial OEM installed base across asset identity, customer sites, as-maintained configuration, warranty, service, telemetry, spares and upgrades.
Industrial OEM guideInstalled base software for OEMs: what to compare
Compare Bourne, IFS, SAP, Oracle, Teamcenter SLM, ServiceMax, Salesforce, Entytle and Makula for industrial OEM installed-base work.
Industrial OEM guideSpare-parts quoting for industrial equipment
Quote industrial spare parts from the installed machine through fit, supersession, complete kits, supply, landed cost, price, delivery and installed-state update.
Industrial OEM guideHow to build an industrial account health score
Build an industrial OEM account health score that separates current health, near-term risk, growth potential and data confidence, then points to a named action.
Industrial OEM guideTurn the installed base into an aftermarket pipeline
Build an installed-base aftermarket pipeline from asset signals through technical qualification, customer need, channel ownership, quote, execution and installed-state update.
Workflow guidesHow to use quote history in RFQ automation
Use quote history to resolve customer aliases, part substitutions, and one-time conditions. Learn which records to supply and how to test whether an agent uses them correctly.
ERP guidesRFQ automation for Dynamics 365 Business Central
Evaluate RFQ-to-quote automation for Business Central: customers and prospects, item references, units, delivery terms, and quote review.
Workflow guidesAutomating Excel RFQs without losing line-item context
Handle RFQs in Excel with repeated headers, pack quantities, alternatives, notes, and revisions. Includes a line-item mapping example and an evaluation checklist.
Workflow guidesAutomating RFQs from Gmail and Google Workspace
A practical Gmail RFQ automation guide covering threads, forwarded requests, attachments, account matching, draft review, and production access.
ERP guidesRFQ automation for Infor CloudSuite Distribution
Evaluate RFQ automation for Infor CloudSuite Distribution: QU records, customer product references, substitutions, warehouse context, and quote review.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite CPQ rules: how to model, test and govern them
Design NetSuite CPQ rules that control valid choices, price, quote lines, materials, routing and transaction data, with a worked industrial example and test matrix.
NetSuite guidesHow to create a quote in NetSuite
Create a NetSuite sales estimate, check customer and item details, control customer visibility and prepare the quote for approval and order conversion.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite estimate API: a quoting action checklist
Understand the NetSuite estimate REST record, including field ownership, tax prerequisites, approval boundaries, duplicate recovery and quote-to-order checks.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite item matching for customer RFQs
Design a NetSuite item-matching workflow for customer part numbers, manufacturer codes, descriptions, units, revisions, substitutes and unresolved RFQ lines.
NetSuite guidesOutlook to NetSuite quotes: an AI workflow
Connect Outlook RFQs to NetSuite estimate preparation with mailbox ownership, attachment review, item resolution and duplicate-safe record updates.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite partial shipments: cost and customer approval
Handle partial NetSuite shipments with line-level quantities, customer approval, freight decisions and billing checks instead of a vague delayed-order status.
NetSuite guidesMatch customer POs to NetSuite quotes
Reconcile customer purchase orders with accepted NetSuite quotes across items, quantities, prices, delivery dates and terms before order release.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite pricing approvals for industrial quotes
Design NetSuite quote approvals for price, margin, cost gaps, payment, freight, warranty, delivery and customer-specific exceptions.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite product configuration for industrial manufacturers
Choose the right NetSuite product, item and manufacturing records for catalog sales, configured equipment, replacements and engineer-to-order work.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite quote approvals: rules for prices and revisions
Design NetSuite estimate approvals around commercial authority. Define margin exceptions, technical review, revision checks and customer release tests.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite estimate CSV import: a practical checklist
Prepare NetSuite estimate CSV imports with stable identifiers, header and line mappings, update rules and reconciliation before a bulk load.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite quote data mapping: fields and ownership
Map customer requests to NetSuite estimates with source ownership, required fields, item identifiers and explicit rules for approvals and record updates.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite order changes after quote acceptance
Manage changes to accepted NetSuite quotes and sales orders with impact checks across pricing, purchasing, production, delivery and customer confirmation.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite quote revisions for industrial sales
Control NetSuite quote revisions with an issued-document record, exact change comparison, targeted reapproval and a reliable link from the customer PO to the accepted offer.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite quote sync errors: recover without duplicates
Recover failed and uncertain NetSuite quote writes without duplicate estimates, stale overwrites or customer documents that disagree with the ERP record.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite quote templates: setup and review checklist
Connect a NetSuite estimate form to its PDF and email templates. Use an industrial quote content checklist and test revisions, long lines and currencies.
NetSuite guidesConvert a NetSuite quote to a sales order
Convert an accepted estimate to a NetSuite sales order and check PO differences, revisions, split orders and duplicate conversion before release.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite quoting integrations: email, CSV and API
Plan NetSuite quoting integrations across email intake, estimate APIs, CSV imports, field mapping and recovery, with clear ownership for each action.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite RFQ intake: from customer email to quote
Design customer RFQ intake for NetSuite with request ownership, attachment handling, duplicate checks and a clear handoff to estimating.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite supplier price changes: protect open quotes
Trace a supplier price change through NetSuite items, contracts, open quotes and sales orders, then quantify the exposure before sales responds.
NetSuite guidesExtract supplier quotes for NetSuite RFQs
Turn supplier PDFs and spreadsheets into comparable NetSuite RFQ inputs while preserving minimum orders, delivery terms and exceptions.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite technical clarification before quoting
Resolve drawing conflicts, material changes and proposed equivalents before a NetSuite quote, with a decision log and focused customer questions.
NetSuite guidesNetSuite units of measure for quotes
Set up and test NetSuite quote units for eaches, cases, thousands, weight, length, serialized items and customer purchase orders.
ERP guidesRFQ automation for Odoo Sales
Turn customer RFQs into reviewable Odoo quotation drafts. Evaluate customer references, product variants, pricelists, units, and quote-history exceptions.
Workflow guidesAutomating RFQs from an Outlook shared mailbox
Plan Outlook RFQ intake: shared mailbox access, email threads, attachments, duplicate requests, quote drafts, and a separate approval step for sending.
ERP guidesRFQ automation for Epicor Prophet 21
A practical evaluation guide for Prophet 21 distributors: customer part numbers, branch inventory, units, quote history, and sales review.
Buying guidesRFQ automation vs OCR: from extracted text to a usable quote
See which parts of RFQ processing OCR can handle and where catalog matching, customer history, units, prices, and human decisions enter the quoting process.
ERP guidesRFQ automation for Sage X3
Plan Sage X3 RFQ automation around sales sites, customer references, quote validity, revisions, and approval. Includes a worked example and pilot inputs.
ERP guidesRFQ automation for SAP Business One
Scope RFQ automation around SAP Business One sales quotations, business partners, item lines, references, logistics, and commercial exceptions.