Mehmet Darendeli

Mehmet Darendeli is an accomplished leader in strategy and banking, currently serving as the Head of Group Strategy at the National Bank of Kuwait since July 2013, where responsibilities include developing corporate strategies, advising senior management on business unit strategies, and guiding digital transformation. Mehmet also contributes as a Member of the Supervisory Board at Weyay Bank, helping to establish Kuwait's first digital bank, and as a Board Member at TurkishBank. Previous experience includes over a decade at McKinsey & Company as a Principal in the Corporate and Investment Banking Practice in the Middle East and earlier roles in academia focusing on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering research. Mehmet holds a PhD and an MS in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from Boğaziçi University.