About

MEHMET ZAHIT ATES

He began his career in 2004 as a software developer at AYESAS – Aydin Yazilim ve Elektronik Sanayii. Following that, he worked at SDT – Space & Defence Technologies as a software developer and later returned to AYESAS in 2005.

In 2006, he moved to the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (the Bank) and worked as an IT auditor. During this term, he performed audits and consulted on various projects, such as developing Turkey’s first in-house EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer – real-time transfer and real-time gross settlement system) and ESTS (Electronic Securities Transfer System – real-time transfer and gross settlement of securities). He has also served as a speaker and trainer at local and international events.

In 2018, he was chosen as the high-potential leader candidate within the Bank and completed a leadership program organized by Harvard Business Review Turkey. That same year, he was appointed deputy CIO in 2018, and he became the CIO in 2019. Until 2023, he led an extraordinary team to launch Turkey’s new generation, in-house 24/7 instant payment system (FAST – the Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds), the “High-Frequency Data” project, which collects almost real-time data from financial institutions and provides it to decision-makers. He spearheaded the transformation of IT architecture for flexible operation across multiple sites, the establishment of the Bank’s new disaster recovery center, and the development of a brand new in-house EFT system that can integrate with other country’s payment systems, and coordinated IT preparations for the relocation to Umraniye location of the Bank and Istanbul Finance Center (IFC).

He served as a board member and Chairman of the Internal Audit and Risk Committee – BKM between 2020 and 2022.

Since September 2023, he has worked as CIO at the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye.

Mehmet Zahit Ates, who graduated from Meram High School of Science (Konya, Türkiye) in 2000, holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Bilkent University (Ankara, Türkiye), master’s degrees in Software Engineering from Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Türkiye), Information Law from Hacettepe University,(Ankara, Türkiye) and an MBA concentrated in Finance from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the United States of America) . Mehmet Zahit Ates is also a resident of the Turkish House owned by the Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation (Aziz Sancar was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) between 2014 and 2016.