Onur Genç is at the helm of one of Europe's largest banks at a moment of profound change in global finance.

As the first foreign chief executive in BBVA's 168-year history, the Turkish executive oversees over 813 billion euros ($965 billion) in total assets across continents – a journey that reflects both his own disciplined trajectory and the increasingly global character of the finance industry.

The path to BBVA's headquarters in Madrid began far from Spain's financial establishment. Raised in a small town on Türkiye's Black Sea coast by two teacher parents, Genç moved through the country's most competitive institutions before crossing the Atlantic to Carnegie Mellon University for an MBA and later building a 13-year career at New York-based McKinsey.

In Madrid, Genç acquired a kind of a nickname. Colleagues sometimes end meetings by prompting him with a single word: "Seguimos" – which translates into "Let’s go, what’s next?"

The phrase captures both his management style and his trajectory from his career path, as well as a part of his Turkish identity.

Since 2018, Genç has been leading BBVA, the 813 billion euro lender with 80 million customers and 127,000 employees through operations across 30 countries, becoming the first foreign chief executive in its 168-year history.

"It frightened me," he said of taking the role at the beginning. "The responsibility of leading a bank like this."

Genç was speaking as part of an Anadolu Agency (AA) interview profile series of Turkish executives leading global institutions, reflecting on his journey from a Black Sea town to the helm of BBVA and the profound changes reshaping global finance.

Village, town, city, foreign shores

Born in 1974, he grew up in Çarşıbaşı, a Black Sea coastal town in the Trabzon province. His early education spanned village, town, and city, an experience he credits with shaping his adaptability at an early age.

"I saw different environments early on," he said. "That matters."

A nationally ranked student, he entered Istanbul’s prominent Boğaziçi University as one of the top performers in the country's university entrance exam and graduated first in his class in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department in just 3 1/2 years after one term in English prep class.

The achievement, he now suggests, came with an awareness. "Life is about balance," he noted. "Focusing only on academic success is not enough." This is also what he tells his own children.

Even before finishing university, he realized that engineering was not his future. He pivoted to business.

He won a scholarship from the Turkish Education Foundation (TEV), enabling him to pursue a master's degree at Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Before leaving for the U.S., he met Vehbi Koç, then-chair of the Turkish Education Foundation and one of the country's most important industrialists.

"He told me: ‘If you graduated as the top student from Boğaziçi, you’ll do the same at Carnegie Mellon and return to Türkiye, right?’” Genç recalls himself responding with a yes. "Not disappointing those who trust me is very important."

He again finished at the top of his class.

Need for balance

After a brief period at American Airlines in Dallas, Genç then joined McKinsey and Company, where he spent 13 years, and became the consultancy's first Turkish senior partner and eventually led its Türkiye office until 2012.

The position was lucrative and prestigious, but he started to lose "balance," he lamented.

"My twins were seven or eight at that time, and I barely saw them," Genç said. "I felt the balance was gone."

Leaving McKinsey as a senior partner is rare. In 2012, Genç did so anyway to be able to overcome the bottleneck, joining Garanti Bank (Garanti BBVA), one of Türkiye’s most dynamic lenders, as executive vice president.

The move marked his shift from advisory position to operating leadership in the banking sector and, ultimately, set him on course for Madrid, though he did not know this at the time.

"I believe without action you cannot create impact," he says. "Sometimes you have to take the decision that even feels risky."

Garanti's majority shareholder, BBVA, appointed Genç as group chief executive in 2018.

When he arrived for his post as group CEO, he noted that BBVA's board suggested they plan to do business in English rather than Spanish.

Within weeks, Genç realized that would not work.

"Our job is to listen our colleagues, understand and decide," he said. "People express themselves best in their own language, and I realized that there were so many of our colleagues who do not feel comfortable expressing themselves in English."

He spent his first six months immersed in learning Spanish.

Sectoral transformation

Since then, Genç has navigated the pandemic, geopolitical volatility, and economic turbulence in several of BBVA’s core markets, including Latin America and Türkiye. Crisis management, he said, depends on clarity of priorities for the institution, employees, and customers.

Under his leadership, BBVA has accelerated its digital push in response to the transformation in the sector.

Fifteen years ago, Genç noted, retail customers might visit a branch of the bank once every 45 days. Today, most log into a banking app every two days.

"The frequency of interaction has multiplied," he underlined. "In an AI-driven world, we need to think about offering 80 million personalized experiences on our banking app for 80 million customers, as we should be able to understand what each user wants to do depending on past patterns."

The shift is not merely technological but competitive. Fintech groups have set new standards for user experience, forcing incumbents to invest heavily to defend relevance. "We have to be as good as, or better than, fintechs in digital," Genç said.

Despite his global duties, he remains closely attuned to Türkiye, where BBVA retains a significant presence through Garanti BBVA.

"We are very happy with where Garanti BBVA stands in terms of digitalization, technology use, and customer success. Looking at different metrics and with a bit of subjectivity, I think it is the best bank in Türkiye," Genç said with a smile on his face.

On the Turkish economy, he said the country's current economic program is on the right path as policymakers pursue disinflation.

For around two years, Türkiye has undergone a major shift toward orthodox economic policies to bring down inflation. Annual inflation stood at 30.65% in January, the lowest it has seen since November 2021.

"Türkiye is implementing an important economic program and has made meaningful progress," he said. "Persistence on that program is key."

Asked what is more important to him in his life and career, Genç downplays titles.

"For all these about 30 years in my career, or when my career ends, being known as an ethical and decent person matters more than being CEO of BBVA," Genç said. "If you are a good person and you work hard, success follows."

Offering some advice to young professionals, he avoided cliches about ambition. Taking responsibility, action, and choosing the right person matter more than job titles, he said.

"Choosing the right person is more important than choosing the right job. At least that was the case with mine."