Bahadir Samli (ING) is ICT & Digital Coach of the Year 2024

I feel honoured to receive this award. I may be standing alone on the stage here, but it’s the people behind the scenes, my teams and my amazing management team, who are also responsible for the success.

Bahadir Samli (ING), ICT & Digital Coach of the Year 2024

On 21 November, the Belgian ICT & Digital community’s finest came together at the Meet District in Ghent for the 10th edition of This is IT – the IT community’s most prestigious annual event. Like every year, the festive highlight was the presentation of the ICT & Digital Coach of the Year Award. This award for excellent coaching leadership was deservedly given to Bahadir Samli, CIO at ING Belgium.

Award for coaches, not for managers

This is IT founder Christophe VanDriessche (Amon) has been active in the recruitment field within the IT sector for more than 20 years. He finds it remarkable how companies in search of talent continue to strongly focus on attracting external top performers. VanDriessche explains: “Managers in IT sometimes pay too little attention to internal talent. This is not the case, though, for the nominated managers of this award. They focus instead on the growth of their own employees. They give them room to fail while celebrating the successes of their teams.”

Difficult choice for the jury

The five top IT managers who made the shortlist for this award were therefore real standouts. Each and every one of them was able to demonstrate that they are excellent people managers who deserve the award. In the end, Bahadir Samli (CIO at ING Belgium) came out on top.

“The jury was faced with a difficult choice,” agrees jury chairman Dirk Buyens (Vlerick Business School), “but Bahadir Samli achieved an excellent score on all aspects of coaching leadership. He is a real team player who has already racked up lots of mileage and was able to present a nice palette of achievements. From major strategic undertakings to very operational actions. His leadership has definitely contributed to the transformation that took place in the organization.”

Real connection with employees

When asked about his leadership style, Bahadir Samli mainly emphasizes personal connection with employees. “I started ‘in the kitchen’ as a technical engineer in an IT department. So I can vividly imagine what employees or teams struggle with. Attentive listening is one of the most important qualities of a good leader. Trust is also an important factor. People can be great at their job, but if they are not in the right place or they don’t trust their colleagues, then that great talent does not contribute anything to the organization,” he says.

With his international background – he worked 9 years for ING in Turkey and 3.5 years for ING in Belgium – diversity is one of Samli’s passions.

These top managers made the shortlist

After everyone in the Belgian ICT & Digital community had the chance to vote, these 5 coaching managers made it to the shortlist:

• Stefan De Smet of District09
• Peter Vermeylen of Antwerp University Hospital
• Piet Van Petegem of the National Lottery
• Roel De Spiegeleer of P&V Group Insurance
• Bahadir Samli of ING Belgium

This was the expert jury

• Dirk Buyens – Vlerick – Professor in Human Resource Management
• Danielle Jacobs – Beltug – CEO
• Kristof Van der Stadt – DataNews – Editor-in-Chief
• Christophe VanDriessche – Amon – Managing Director
• Sophie Van Nevel – Bekaert – ICT & Digital Coach of the Year 2023
• Philippe Van Belle – AG Insurance – CIO of the Year 2022
• Nabila Farhat – Capgemini – Young ICT Lady of the Year 2023

Photos: Willem Blancke