Ayşe Güçlü Onur is the Global Leader of Egon Zehnder’s Human Resources Practice and a trusted advisor to CEOs, CHROs, boards, and executive teams on leadership, succession, culture, and organizational effectiveness. Based in New York, she partners with organizations as they navigate moments of significant transformation, helping them identify, assess, develop, and recruit leaders capable of delivering long-term business impact.
Drawing on nearly two decades of experience in executive search and leadership advisory, Ayşe works closely with senior executives on some of their most consequential decisions, including CEO and CHRO succession, executive team effectiveness, leadership development, culture transformation, and organizational evolution. She is particularly recognized for helping human resources leaders expand their influence as enterprise strategists and catalysts for business performance.
Beyond her search work, Ayşe is one of the firm's most experienced leadership advisors and executive coaches. She is passionate about helping leaders navigate complexity, accelerate personal transformation, and build organizations that unlock the full potential of their people. She previously co-led Egon Zehnder’s global Learning & Development practice, where she helped shape the development of consultants worldwide and deepened the firm's understanding of how leaders grow, adapt, and create impact at scale.
Ayşe serves clients across industries, with particular expertise in financial services, including global banking, payments, asset management, private capital, and insurance. Her work combines deep sector insight with a nuanced understanding of leadership, talent, and organizational dynamics.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Ayşe established and led the strategy and business development function for a BNP Paribas joint venture in Istanbul. Earlier in her career, she was a strategy consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton in New York and London, advising financial institutions on growth, transformation, and strategic change.
Ayşe holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a BA from Boğaziçi University. She is a co-founder of YenidenBiz, a social venture dedicated to helping highly qualified women return to professional careers after extended career breaks, and serves on the European Advisory Board of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
