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Ozgur Bilgin - Aktiftech (A Subsidiary of Aktifbank) - General Manager
He graduated from Middle East Technical University, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Dept. in 1998 and completed MSc degree from Istanbul University, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Dept. in 2003. He has worked in Esbank IT, Verifone, Akbank IT, TEB IT as developer, analyst, technical lead, IT executive and consulting positions. Ozgur Bilgin now works as General Manager at AktifTech Technology which is the technology subsidiary of Aktifbank. Aktif Tech is a new technology company, with the understanding of bringing an innovative breath to payment, public transportation & ticketing systems softwares and the purpose is to provide high value added software solutions and end-to-end operation services. He has major expertise and background in payment systems and business development.
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Tugrul Kursad Akpinar - Anadolubank - Deputy General Manager of Operations
In 1995, he graduated from Marmara University, Department of Business Administration and completed his master's degree in Accounting Finance at the same university. He started his career in 2000 as a Management Trainee (MT) in the Foreign Trade Department of Turk Ticaret Bank. Between 2001 and 2007, he worked in Foreign Trade operations at Kocbank. Following the merger between Kocbank and Yapi Kredi, he was appointed Private and Retail Customers Operations Department Manager and Central Operations Group Director at Yapi Kredi until August 2021. Throughout his career, he has specialized in redesigning and digitalizing operational processes based on effectiveness and efficiency, self-service banking and using e-state applications. He has successfully remodeled loan allocation and disbursement processes, Foreign Trade processes, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), and AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Operations and Project Management. In 2023, Mr. Akpinar joined Anadolubank and continues serving as Deputy General Manager of Operations.
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Wouter Meijs - ING Turkey - Technology Executive Vice President
Completing his undergraduate and graduate education in the Netherlands and stepping into the ING family through the ING Talent Programme in 2006, Wouter Meijs held several managerial positions within the bank as well as senior executive roles in DevOps Delivery Centre, IT applications at ING in Australia and cloud services for ING. Meijs joined the ING in Turkey family as Technology Executive Vice President as of January 1, 2022.
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Ali Cakiroglu - Trive - CTO
Ali Cakiroglu graduated from Ege University, Department of Computer Engineering in 2000 and has more than 23 years of experience in the Information Technologies department of financial institutions. He started his career as a Software Specialist at Is Bank in 2000 and continued at Akbank in 2008. Cakiroglu managed different projects and teams on digital channels, call center, branch, innovation, fintech integration and open banking. In 2021, he started working as CTO at UPT Payment Services and E-Para company, responsible for the IT infrastructure of the international money transfer platform and digital channels. Finally, Ali Cakiroglu, who started working as CTO at Trive in 2023, continues to work to manage the IT processes of the investment services offered by Trive on a global scale.
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Alper Ahmet Turan - Intertech (A Subsidiary of Denizbank) - Executive Vice President, Core Banking and Payments
Alper Ahmet Turan is a seasoned professional with a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1996. With over two decades at Intertech, he has played a role in designing, developing, and managing diverse banking applications, spanning core banking, credit cards, loans, and data warehousing. He is currently the Executive Vice President for Core Banking and Payments at Intertech.
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Aydil Kaya - Akbank - Senior Vice President, Resilience and Business Continuity
Aydil Kaya, with over 26 years of experience in the banking sector, predominantly in international banks, assumed the position of Head of Business Continuity Department at Akbank in January 2022. Before joining Akbank, Aydil Kaya held the positions of CISO at ING Bank and Senior Manager of Resilience Risk at HSBC Bank. In these roles, he worked on non-financial risk management impacting the banking sector and served as a manager in both the first and second lines of defense. Prior to his risk management career, he held managerial positions in the Information Technology department, overseeing software development teams for retail banking systems. Aydil Kaya is a graduate of Bogazici University with a degree of Computer Engineering. He is married and a father of twin daughters.
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Aziz Kose - NEOHUB (A Subsidiary of DenizBank) - Chief Innovation & Ecosystem Officer
Aziz Kose is a graduate of the Department of Mathematics from Middle East Technical University and has an MBA degree from Bahcesehir University. Starting his career as a Project Planner and Analyst at Motorola in 2007, Kose worked as Implementation and Maintenance Specialist at Turkcell and then as Projects and Planning Director at Topaz Telekom in 2008. He is Project Management Professional (PMP) and Professional Scrum Master (PSM). In 2014 and 2015, he served as the Co-Founder of Tagvance Media and ArgosAI ventures. Kose, who started his career at DenizBank as the Head of Open Innovation & Ecosystem Banking in 2018, has been serving as Executive Board Member at Deniz Ventures and the Chief Innovation & Ecosystem Officer of DenizBank's subsidiary NEOHUB since July 2021.
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Baris Mehmetoglu - Vinnotec - Vice President of Sales
With gratitude for a 15-year journey in the banking industry, Baris Mehmetoglu’s had the privilege of leading as CEO in a specialized Banking Business Intelligence and AI company. His academic journey led him to an M.Sc in Computer Engineering, focusing on Artificial Intelligence. Through the years, his focus on banking data analysis has provided invaluable insights for strategic decisions. He’s also been integral in designing the company's Neobank solution, leveraging 8 years of hands-on development experience. This technical approach has been a cornerstone of his contributions in the field. Currently, he’s honored to serve as Vice President of Sales at Vinnotec. He looks forward to sharing and learning with each other at this conference, as we collectively shape the future of banking.
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Burak Ayan - NTT DATA - Solution Architect, Analytics
Burak Ayan, born on March 23, 1992, is an accomplished Analytics Solutions Architect with over 8 years of professional experience across multiple sectors in the tech industry. He possesses comprehensive knowledge in all areas of analytics, establishing himself as a versatile expert in the domain. Burak completed his studies in Electronics & Communication Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. Burak has been working as Analytics Solution Architect at NTT DATA at where he focuses on Business Intelligence, Data Warehouse Solutions, and Process Mining and his expertise includes tools such as SAP BW/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud, MS Azure Analytics Services, PowerBI, Generative AI, and the Power Platform. Prior to NTT DATA Burak worked at Accenture and Mercedes-Benz Turk A.S. Beyond his technical expertise, Burak has gained hands-on experience in various sectors, enhancing his analytical capabilities. Recognized for his leadership and organizational skills. Fluent in both Turkish and English, Burak's diverse skill set and broad sectoral experiences position him as a prominent figure in the tech and analytics industry.
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Cagatay Avsar - Fibabanka - System Infrastructure Director
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Canan Kelel - Yapı Kredi Bank - Digital Banking Business Development & Service Design Director
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Canan Sayin - Aktifbank - Senior Director of Retail Product Management & Banking as a Service
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Ceyda Erdinc - Fibabanka - Digital Transformation Director
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Demet Yaman - QNB Finansbank - Director of Digital Bridge
Demet Yaman, born in 1984, graduated from the Department of Economics at Middle East Technical University in 2007 and completed her MBA in 2009. She began her career at Vakifbank in 2007 at CEO Office and joined QNB Finansbank in 2011 as a Senior Process Engineer. She has served as a manager in various important business units within the bank, including Business Development, Innovation Center of the Bank "QNBeyond," as well as Corporate Digital Banking. As of 2022, she has been appointed as the Director of Digital Bridge at QNB Finansbank and continues to hold this position.
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Erkan Dervis - Fibabanka - IT Director of Digital Channels
Erkan is the IT Director of Digital Channels in Fibabanka. Responsible for Internet and Mobile Banking Department, Call Center / IVR Technologies Department, CRM Technologies Department, Digital Security Department and Digital Insurance Technologies Department. Skilled at leading Digital Transformation of banking Digital Channels, Platform Banking, SuperApp, Open Banking, Payment Systems, and IT Transformation. In addition to more than 30 years of programming experience, he worked as Software Engineer, Software Architect and middle-high Management positions in his 19 years of professional business life. Before Fibabanka, worked at Ziraat Bank, Turkiye Is Bank / Softtech, Meteksan and Dogan Holding companies. Took key roles in major software development, IT transformation projects and business process improvements. Graduate from the Eastern Mediterranean University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, in addition, holds a MBA Degree from Bilgi University.
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Esin Coskun - Softtech - Deputy Chief Executive Office, Digital Banking
A graduate of the Yildiz Technical University Mathematical Engineering Department, Esin Coskun completed Bogazici University Engineering and Technology Management Master’s Program and then Sabanci University Executive MBA. She started her career as a Software Engineer in 2003 and worked as a Software Manager at Dogan Online and as Manager Responsible for Mobile Technologies at Intertech Inc. Esin Coskun, who started to work as the Director of Mobile Payment Applications at Softtech in August 2019, has been working as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Softtech since September 2020.
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Funda Oney - HSBC Turkey - CIO
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Gorkem Arisoy - NTT DATA - Strategic Industries Account Manager
In 2004, after graduating from Gazi University, Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations (ÇEKO), he stepped into corporate business life. He has 18 years of sales and sales management career in Turkey's leading domestic and multinational companies. For the first 2 years of his career, he worked as a Commercial sales manager in Akbank branch. Afterwards, he worked for 8 years at Akbank Head Office in Individual, Commercial segment sales marketing and sales management, responsible for the performance increases of the sales managers reporting to him. After 10 years of finance and sales experience, he continued his corporate sales career at Vodafone for 7 years as a Large Accounts sales manager, responsible for all target performances of the team he led. He then moved to the Fintech sector as an entry into the technology field and worked as a sales manager at Paynet for 1 year. He is currently working as the Financial Services Industry (FSI) sales manager at the NTT DATA company, responsible for the entire banking, insurance and fintech sector. He is responsible for growing sales opportunities in the field of turnkey project and outsourcing services with licence and consultancy support from Microsoft, SAP, Uipath, etc.
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Hadi Rubaci - Architecht (A Subsidiary of Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank) - Deputy General Manager, Core Banking and Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Hadi Rubaci, was born in Bursa in 1974, graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Engineering in 1996. He obtained his master's degree in Computer and Information Systems from Brooklyn College, CUNY, in 2004, and he earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Halic University in 2018. Having worked in various departments of Kuveyt Turk Information Technologies Group for 17 years, Rubaci served as the Group Manager for Kuveyt Turk Information Technologies from 2019 to 2022. As of October 1, 2022, he has been serving as the Deputy General Manager responsible for Core Banking and Artificial Intelligence at Architecht.
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Hakan Kantas - Halkbank - Information Technology Director
He started his professional career in 1993 in the IT department of Pamukbank. He was the CIO of Vaillant Group in 2007-2008. He has been working for Halkbank since 2008. He created IT Risk Management Methodology as the first bank in Turkey, he led CSI (Continual Service Improvement) projects that delivered comprehensive innovative transformations to implement global best practices in IT through service-oriented approach and IT process model. Currently, he is the Director of IT Continuity Management Department and he's responsible from following areas; Operational Resilience, IT Continuity Management, Disaster Recovery, Crisis Management, IT Capacity and Performance Management, Data Management and KVKK. He is a member of ISACA (Gold Member), IEEE Professional Member, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Member, The Informatics
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Hasan Emre Ozgur - Enqura - Chief Commercial Officer
Hasan Emre Ozgur is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the banking and fintech sectors. He graduated from Istanbul University with a degree in Economics. He has worked in various positions such as Product Manager, Assistant Vice President, Senior Vice President, Head of Payments, Chief Marketing Officer and Business Development Director in leading companies such as Yapi Kredi Bank, Akbank, CPP Turkiye, ING Bank, Trusturk and KOBIL. He is currently the Chief Commercial Officer at Enqura, a leading company of banking and fintech products, where he is responsible for managing the domestic and international sales activities. He is also a talented singer and performs in Turkish and foreign rock music bands. His hobbies include motorcycle, camping, gardening and science fiction/fantasy productions.
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Hazim Guvel - Alternatif Bank - Retail Marketing & Digital Banking Director
Hazim Guvel, a graduate of Middle East Technical University with a degree in International Relations, has twenty years of experience in the finance sector, with a focus on marketing, customer experience, digital banking and sales. He began his career in 2003 and has held senior positions in various banks to date. Since March 1, 2021, Guvel has been serving as the Retail Marketing and Digital Banking Director at Alternatif Bank. Throughout his career, he has had a passion for designing experiences that are people oriented and provide solutions to real-life problems through his expertise in the fields he has gained experience in and the use of technology.
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James Frost - Keyless - Vice President of Sales
James Frost is an experienced Sales Director in the identity and security space, with previous leadership roles at Auth0 and FireMon. James also has a strong technical background, having spent the first 10 years of his career working as a security consultant and engineer.
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Kemal Yavuzcetin - Burgan Bank - Senior Vice President, Open Banking
He has 24 years of experience at banking sector. He worked in banks of various sizes such as YKB, HSBC, Bankpozitif and Burgan Bank. Mostly experienced in development and management of digital channels such as Mobile, Internet, Contact Center, IVR and ATM. Also has expertise on developing lean processes for new customer acquisition, services and sales via digital platforms. His current role is developing business and strategy for open banking ecosystem including BaaS since March 2023.
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Levent Yildirmak - ING Turkey - Technology Director, Business Banking, Wholesale Banking & Risk
Oversees & drives the roadmap of Technology in Business Banking, Wholesale Banking & Risk domains. Leading critical change initiatives and technologies by focusing on developing flexible, scalable, efficient solutions reducing SG&A and increasing EBITDA. Tech leader with high achievements in leveraging digital technology to drive business growth, personal productivity, performance, profitability and expanding intellectual property capital. A thought leader, a change motivator, strategic thinker and strong partnership builder. Diverse experience 25 years in high-growth multinational companies with extensive knowledge in Technology & Banking.
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Maryam Najafi - Vinnotec - Vice President of Sales
Maryam Najafi is a seasoned professional in the world of finance and fintech, contributing to the development of fintech startups. Through her leadership, Maryam has accelerated the growth of fintech startups, fostering an ecosystem where innovation thrives. She held the position of CEO at a Venture Capital and an innovation center focused on fintech for 5 years. Maryam now embarks on a new venture as Vinnotec's VP of Sales in Dubai office. Maryam Najafi extends her influence as a prize assessor for the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). Furthermore, she holds multiple roles within the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) as Country Offices Auditor, head of the Global Mentorship Department, and WBAF Business School Faculty Member. She has also conducted the "Investment Readiness Course" in various countries, including Croatia, Nigeria, Turkey, Ghana and Bahrain and very soon in South Africa.
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Mevlut Erdem Kurul - Kurulum Cognitive Services - Founder, Technical Manager
Mevlut Erdem Kurul graduated from Bilkent University with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from University of California, San Diego. He has worked for international research institutes (San Diego Supercomputer Center) and enterprises (Microsoft Corp) abroad and FinTech in Istanbul (Ziraat Teknoloji, Intertech AS). After 20+ years of extensive experience in the field, he founded Kurulum Cognitive Services, which specializes in delivering premium software consultancy and development services for Business Process Management Projects, Data Intensive Infrastructure Applications (Big data, Analytics, AI) and Core Banking Projects.
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Ozgu Karatas - Burgan Bank - Senior Vice President, Head of Mobile Banking&Innovation
Ozgu Karatas graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Biology with a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology and Genetics in 2005 and completed the executive MBA program at Yeditepe University. She is an experienced executive in mobile, digital strategy, digital transformation, e-commerce, and communication at various companies in multiple industries such as telecommunications, pharmaceutical, retail, and banking sectors with an impressive track record of first-to-market projects and honored with many international and national awards. Currently, Ozgu Karatas has been working as Head of Mobile and Innovation at Burgan Bank. Before joining Burgan Bank, she worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
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Ozlem Atan - HSBC Turkey - Retail Banking COO
With a total of 16 years of experience in banking industry, Ozlem Atan has been leading Digital Transformation and Business Management operations in HSBC Turkey for the last 7 years. Following the International Trade undergraduate program at Bogazici University and a master’s degree in Communication Strategies at Galatasaray University, she worked at Citibank and HSBC retail banking. Atan successfully led series of overarching transformation projects like HSBC’s core banking transformation, digital onboarding, open banking and digital wealth management capabilities. With a concrete vision of “mobile first” approach, she is currently driving the new era of banking with Open Banking and AI initiatives.
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Serkan Fergan - TEB - Digital Banking Group Director
Serkan graduated from Kadikoy Anadolu High School in 1988 and continued his studies at Yildiz Technical University Computer Sciences Engineering Dept. and ITU Control and Computer Engineering Masters program. After two long term traineeships in Italy and Canada, he started his career at Pamukbank Information Systems Group. He continued this position until 2000 when he joined Disbank, Fortis. He worked as Head of Application Development Department of the Bank until 2011. After a short start-up experience, he consecutively worked at Verifone, ICBC and Turk Telekom. Following his experience in various responsibilities and roles, he joined TEB Retail and Private Banking Group in 2017 and is working as Digital Banking Group Director in addition to his previous Business Development role in the same company. In his current position, he’s responsible for CEPTETEB Digital Bank and managing partnerships with Fintechs.
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Theofanis (Fanis) Mesolongitis - Temenos - Principal BSG Consultant & Corporate Banking Global BSG Lead
Fanis is a graduate from The American College of Greece with a BSc in Management and also holds an MBA in Banking & Finance from Kingston University, UK. He is a seasoned professional with 23 years banking experience. He started his career in 2000 and has since worked in many large banks in Greece, like Commercial Bank of Greece (Credit Agricole) and National Bank of Greece, holding positions within Retail, SME and Corporate Divisions, including NPLs. Also, he has worked in London and Singapore as a Banking Consultant. Throughout his career has specialized in Commercial Lending, Retail Network optimization and Banking Transformation Projects. He has been with Temenos since 2019, as a Business Solutions Group (BSG) Consultant, specializing in Corporate Banking and he is also the Global BSG Lead for Corporate Banking.
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Tuncer Demirel - Halkbank - IT Enterprise & Digital Applications Senior Vice President
Tuncer Demirel graduated from Ihsan Dogramaci University (formerly Bilkent University) Electric-Electronics Engineering in 1993. He has worked in Netas, Akbank IT, Aktifbank, Softtech & IBM as a developer, technical lead, IT executive and consulting positions. He participated in Turkey's first Internet and mobile banking projects. Today, he has a 30-years extensive expertise in digital banking, payment systems and process digitalization. As the IT Enterprise & Digital Banking Applications SVP at Halkbank, he is responsible of the application architecture & development of banking enterprise applications, low-code platforms, digital banking and payment systems.
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Turan Mola - Burgan Bank - CISO
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Yesim Calidag - Fibabanka - Director of Technology Strategy and Operational Excellence
Supervises the Agile Delivery & DevOps, Operational Excellence & Service Management Processes, CIO Office, test & quality, robotic process automation and enterprise architecture units. Owns and leads the digital transformation programme of Fibabanka in agile delivery, robust operations and operational excellence. Builds mechanisms to enhance strategic value of IT. Sets the strategy and roadmap to achieve excellence in technology delivery utilizing agile processes and practices. Leads the development and continuous improvement of all ITSM processes and Agile Software Development (SDLC/DevOps) in IT, working closely with the development and infrastructure teams. Leads the enterprise process improvements and development of process automations through designing, developing, testing and maintaining processes through Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and enhanced workflow automation platforms. Leads the design and implementation of a logging, monitoring, analysis and reporting structure to create visibility of IT in order to get insights for strategic planning risk and performance, including teams, infrastructure and applications. Sets the testing and automation strategy, standards and guidelines for the organization in line with best practices; ensures that each software product released is tested according to the standards. Responsible for financial management and budgeting and supports risk and overall compliance of IT.
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Acelya Akbas - Halkbank - IT Risk Management Manager
She began her professional career at Halkbank’s IT department in 2008. Until 2016, she took part in the design and implementation of the Service Management, Quality Management, Risk Management, Compliance Management, Performance Management, Governance and Planning, IT Strategy and Value Management, Continuous Improvement, Project and Portfolio processes within the framework of service-oriented approach and international standards. As the Risk and Compliance Management team manager, which she started in 2016, she ensured the operation and development of IT Risk Assessment and Management, Internal Control Monitoring and Evaluation, Ensuring Compliance with External Requirements and Data Management processes. She has been working as an IT Risk Management manager since 2019. She has TOGAF and ISO 20000 LA certificates, works individually in Halkbank IT ISO 20000, ISO 27001 certification studies and Halkbank KVKK.
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Burak Altun - Intertech (A Subsidiary of Denizbank) - Head of Cyber Security and Threat Management
I started my career in 2010 at Akbank in the Technology Security team. At 2013, I moved to Garanti as a Security Threat Expert. Between 2017-2023, I managed teams such as Threat Management and Log Management. Now, I’m the Head of Cyber Security and Threat Management of Intertech.
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Burak Topsakal - Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank - Digital Sales Manager
Burak Topsakal was graduated from industrial engineering in 2011 then started to work on Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank and now he is an experienced banker who has worked both branch and head office. He has worked under the positions of Commercial Sales between 2012 to 2016 in several branches. In 2016 he started to work in head office as Private Banking Senior Supervisor. From 2022 he is working as Digital Sales Manager on Digital Sales and Portfolio Management department.
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Cagatay Isikci - Hayat Finans Dijital Banka - Head of Information Security, Data Privacy, Fraud Management
An accomplished Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), having 20 years of versatile experience at Akbank, Denizbank, Sekerbank and Hayat Finans Digital Bank. Member of core founding team of Turkey’s first %100 digital bank, literally from scratch, approved by BDDK on March 2023. Graduated from the Executive MBA (EMBA) master program at Sabanci University, and Electrical & Electronics Engineering Bsc at Hacettepe University. Govern risks for the following domains: Information / Data Security, Information Technology Security Operations, Corporate GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance), Data Privacy / Protection, Information Risk Management, Fraud Management, Business Continuity Management, Compliance & IT Audit Management, Vendor & Contract Management.
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Emre Olcer - Is Bank - Digital Banking Division Head
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Emre Yildiz - Vakif Participation Bank - IT Digital Banking and Payment Solutions Vice President
I graduated from Istanbul University Computer Engineering Department in 2011. I worked at Avea, Turk Telekom, Turkish Airlines and Vakif Participation Bank respectively. I took part in software teams for 9 years as backend (Java & NodeJs) developer, AWS cloud developer, AWS cloud architect. I have been working as a Vice President at Vakif Participation Bank for the last 4 years. My main areas of responsibility are digital channels and payment systems. We develop software for our bank with "UI/UX Development", "Mobile Application Development", "Digital Application Development", "Card Solutions", "POS and ATM Solutions", "Clearing and Fraud Solutions" services.
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Ender Aydin - Ziraat Bank - ATM Development Manager
I’ve been working at Ziraat Bank since 2005. After working as an expert at treasury and funding management departments, I’ve worked at Marketing Department as Digital Banking and Payment Systems Manager for 5 years. I’m ATM Development Manager since 2021 at Digital Banking Department. Our team is responsible for the software of ATM’s and now running an ATM pooling project called Turkey’s ATM Center (TAM). Also executing Z-Transformation Project, which is a platform for digitalization of SME’s.
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Engin Deniz - TEB - Digital Banking Channel Development Senior Manager
With more than 20 years of experience in the banking sector, he is a seasoned professional specializing in creating high-quality mobile banking applications, e-banking platforms, and productivity projects. He possesses extensive expertise in digital transformation and digital banking, contributing to the advancement of digital banking for non-retail (commercial) customers. Between 2009-2014 he dedicated his expertise to Project management, successfully leading and overseeing various productivity projects, Additionally, as the manager of SME Banking Transformation Technologies and Digital Marketing from December 2014 to 2018, he spearheaded the digital transformation of the SME Group, achieving valuable outcomes in revenue generation and efficiency improvement.
During his tenure as the Digital Commercial Banking Team Lead at TEB (BNP Paribas JV) in Turkey from 2019 to 2022, he played a crucial role in promoting and leading the development of CEPTETEB ISTE, resulting in significant increases in the digital user base, login numbers, mobile penetration, and digital transactions. Since July 2022, he has been actively managed digital channel for commercial customers.
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Gokhan Egri - Akbank - Vice President, Mobile Banking & Mobile Apps
Gokhan graduated from both the Electronics and Computer Engineering departments. He also holds a Master's and Doctorate degree in Computer Engineering. Gokhan gained valuable experience working on start-ups and agencies before dedicating the past 10 years to developing Akbank Mobile. He is currently working as the Vice President responsible for Akbank Mobile. Gokhan remains curious and continues to conduct research and experiments in the digital world.
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Gulefsan Yildirim Basaran - Halkbank - Unit Manager, Core Banking Software Development
Gulefsan Yildirim Basaran, holding a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Physics Engineering from Istanbul Technical University. Her career journey began at Pamukbank and continued at Halkbank since the Halkbank-Pamukbank merger. With over 20+ years of experience, she has developed her expertise in multifaceted domain including Business Process Management, Document Management, Current Accounts, Money Transfers, CIF management, Fraud Prevention, AML Compliance. Her career path encompasses roles as system analyst, developer, project manager. Currently, she is a unit manager in the Core Banking Software Development Department, responsible for Business Process Management, and Operational Excellence.
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Izzet Hacialioglu - Garanti BBVA - Digital Special Projects Manager
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Levent Kazim Oguz - Denizbank - Senior Vice President, Digital Channels and Open Banking
After Bsc Degree of Engineering, Kazim started his professional life in KocSistem as software developer on enterprise applications. By ending 3 years in systems development, Kazim converted his career to banking IT and soon became Department Head of Architecture and Software Development. Throughout his 10 years IT career Kazim has successfully built business in both local and international projects. At June 2015 Kazim has attended the foundation team of Digital Generation Banking at DenizBank as Department Head of Payment Systems. By switching his career from IT to Digital banking business he has played leading role in building up new generation products and services in past 7 years. He played an important role in creating award winning products of digital banking. Now he is working as Digital and Open Banking Senior Vice President, responsible from Digital Banking Channels Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, ChatBot, Web PLatforms and Open Banking.
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Mustafa Ulus - Fibabanka - Head of R&D and Innovation
Mustafa graduated from Yildiz Technical University, Department of Mathematics Engineering and has been working in IT sector since 2004 in a variety of leadership and expert roles for multinational and local enterprises across ICT, telco, banking and e-commerce industries including Fibabanka, ING Turkey, Turk Telekom, Ericsson and Avansas companies. He actively involved in large-sized digital and organizational transformations, company merging & acquisitions and software development projects. His areas of expertise are IT strategy planning, innovation management and entrepreneurship, product & growth strategy, project & resource management, software architecture, analysis and design. He is also serving as board member at Information Technology Association and R&D Centers Platform, startup mentor at incubation centers such as ITU Cekirdek and Kworks.
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Nedim Kaya - Halkbank - Information Security System Manager
Graduated from ITU Computer Engineering at 2003. Started his career at Denizbank-Intertech between 2003-2005 as Network Security Engineer. After that worked at Halkbank since 2005 in different positions including Network Security, Incident Response, Pentesting Teams as Senior Specialist and Team Leader. Currently working as Information Security Systems Manager at Halkbank for 2 years.
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Ogun Sarier - Yapi Kredi Bank - Payment Systems Fraud Prevention Vice President
Ogun Sarier is Yapi Kredi Bank - Payment Systems Fraud Prevention Vice President since March 2017. He is responsible for the development & management of the fraud prevention strategy for all YKB cards, merchants, ATMs. Developing analytical capabilities for fraud prevention, conducting root cause analysis of fraud cases, creating a suitable working environment for the development of analytical models, and leading the team to produce highly effective analytical data analysis.
Previously, from 2012 to 2017, he worked as Akbank Fraud Prevention Assistant Manager. In this role, he made lot of projects to protect fraud attacks on digital channels and had fraud risk responsibility on E2E Digitalization Project which is aiming to generate Future Banking by reviewing all banking processes. With more than 10 years of fraud prevention experience, he continues to work on creating more secure payment systems.
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Ozcan Ozaslan - Sekerbank - Unit Manager, Information Security
He started his career in 2006 at Fortisbank in the Payment Systems Unit, gaining valuable experience in the financial industry. He then held managerial positions at TEB and Alternatif Bank, where he successfully led teams and implemented effective payment system solutions. In 2014, he joined Sekerbank A.S. as the Unit Manager of Data, Identity, and Product Security. In this role, he played a key role in ensuring data integrity and confidentiality, implementing robust security measures, and managing customer and product security. He currently holds the position of Unit Manager in the Information Security Department, overseeing data management, customer and product security, and user identity and access management.
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Ozkan Kaynak - Fibabanka - Cyber Security Operations Manager
Ozkan Kaynak is the Cyber Security Operations Manager in Fibabanka. Graduated from Yeditepe University Information Systems and Technologies Department in 2008 and continues his master's degree at Marmara University Cyber Security Department. He has worked in many different organizations and roles in the field of Information Security for 15 years of professional business life. After starting his career as an information security consultant at Educore Training and Consulting Firm, he worked at ING Hayat ve Emeklilik, Bimsa, Aktifbank and Shaya Group, respectively. He has currently been working as Cyber Security Operations Manager at Fibabanka since June 2020.
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Ozer Gulce - Alternatifbank - Head of Information Security Management
He was born in 1971 in Bursa. He completed his B.Sc and M.Sc at Istanbul Technical University. His career, which started in the IT sector in 1993, still continues as Head of Information Security Management at Alternatifbank. Mr. Gulce worked at TSKB, OBASE and SDLC and held active positions in the sector in the fields of information security, information technology governance, software development, system management, decision support systems, primary control and audit activities.
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Ozgur Sonmezer - Intesa Sanpaolo - Information Security Officer
The Information Security Officer role for Intesa SanPaolo Bank defines the Information Security and Cybersecurity objectives for the Information Security Program and monitors compliance with such objectives. The ISO operates in strict cooperation with the Head Office, so to direct the planning, development, implementation and monitoring of security for enterprise information systems. The ISO also develops and implements security training and awareness programs to educate employees about information security and cybersecurity solutions and requirements.
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Selim Tastan - Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank - Head of Digital Transformation and Innovation
Selim Tastan began his banking career in Turkey in 2005 when he started working in IT department at Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank having different roles, Quality and Project Manager until 2013. He worked as the head of IT at KT Bank AG in Frankfurt, Germany until 2017. He came back to Turkey and continued his career as the Application Management Manager in Kuveyt Turk's IT Group. Dr. Tastan has been working as Head of Digital Transformation and Innovation in Strategy Sector since 2018. After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Computer Information Systems, he completed his MBA at the University of Texas in 2005. He completed his PhD in Business Administration at Halic University. In his doctoral thesis, he conducted his study on Economic and Technological Determinants of New Entrepreneurs Emerging in the Global Financial Technology (Fintech) Sector.
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Simay Elif Erdem Cobanoglu - Yapi Kredi Bank - Head of Strategic Business Development
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Turgay Celik - Garanti BBVA Technology (A Subsidiary of Garanti BBVA) - IT Risk and Control Manager
Turgay Celik, holding Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and Master’s degree in Business Administration. He started his professional career as a software developer at Havelsan in 2003. Due to his desire on detection of IT security vulnerabilities he chose to work in the field of information security. He worked as technical leader to secure network, applications and infrastructure at Turk Telekom and Borsa Istanbul. He is currently working as IT Risk and Control Manager at GarantiBBVA.