Every role I hold is ultimately a platform for service, to future generations who will inherit the consequences of the choices we make today.

Hakan Bulgurlu former CEO of Beko, the world’s third -largest manufacturer of home appliances, serving millions of consumers through an international portfolio of brands. He has led the publicly listed company’s growth through a combination of organic expansion and major strategic partnerships and acquisitions — including Hitachi in Asia and Whirlpool in Europe and MENA — bringing deep experience in integration, transformation delivery, and multi-country operating-model execution. Beko employs nearly 45,000 people, operates 38 manufacturing facilities globally generates €12bn+ in annual sales.

He has driven an organization-wide transformation - advancing Industry 4.0 deployment, among the highest automation levels in the sector, and embedding an AI-first mindset across products, operations, and ways of working.

He has led Beko’s sustainability journey, with progress recognised by TIME and Statista among the World’s Most Sustainable Companies, and its sustainability-led growth examined in a Harvard Business School case—reflecting a focus on embedding sustainability into the operating model rather than treating it as a separate program.

He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s CEO Climate Leaders Alliance and serves as President of APPLiA, the association representing Europe’s home appliance manufacturers, where he champions energy efficiency and the green transition.

Beyond business, Hakan is a passionate climate activist. He summitted Everest in 2019 and later wrote A Mountain to Climb, linking personal challenge to the climate agenda. In 2023, he climbed Mount Vinson in Antarctica and skied to the South Pole to highlight the implications of the melting Antarctic-Arctic ice sheets. His new book, On Thin Ice, focuses on the inevitable sea-level rise due to ice melt and will be published in 2026.

He holds degrees in Economics and Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the joint program of Northwestern University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In 2025, he completed the Young Presidents’ Organization ‘Presidents Program’ at Harvard Business School, a 10-year executive education program.