Kaan Akalin

Kaan started his career at the intersection of business, data, and technology, building experience across business transformation, analytics, process improvement, and strategic business development.

Before moving to Belgium, Kaan completed a double degree in Economics and International Relations at Koç University in Istanbul, complemented by exchange experiences at LUISS in Rome and SMU in Singapore. Early in his career, he gained experience across professional services, consumer brands, media, banking, and automotive through internships and project roles at Deloitte, Red Bull, Bloomberg Businessweek, Burgan Bank, and Stellantis. He also worked at Vestel's battery and e-mobility venture, at the intersection of R&D and international commercial strategy. This shaped his global outlook and cross-industry perspective.

He went on to obtain a Master of Business Economics from KU Leuven, majoring in Entrepreneurship and minoring in Informatics. His thesis focused on patent data and market sizing, and after completing it, Kaan was invited to continue the research with his professor, refining forecasting methodologies for emerging technologies. During his studies, he also worked at imec on a business development project, assessing the commercial potential of early-stage deep-tech.

Kaan then joined Beko Europe, where he worked in the Benelux organization during a period of significant transformation, including the acquisition of a local distributor and the integration following the Beko-Whirlpool joint venture. In this environment, he played an active role across business transformation, reporting, commercial analytics, and digital workflow improvement. He worked directly on SAP and CRM transitions, collaborating with cross-functional teams to define requirements, create and improve business processes, shape reporting structures, and turn operational needs into practical data solutions using tools such as Power Automate, Qlik Sense, Power BI, and Tableau.

He also co-led Europe-wide initiatives around connected appliances, energy partnerships, interoperability, and grid flexibility, working on data-driven flexibility use cases and AI-enabled customer propositions.

Outside of work, Kaan is a singer-songwriter with released music and national TV appearances in Türkiye, including X Factor.

Kaan will join element61 in June 2026.