In 1979, aged 25, he started working for the Nestlé group and worked in different countries, including Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Portugal, Czech Republic and Germany. Before his appointment as CEO of Nestlé, he was the executive vice president of its Americas divisions. Bulcke has described Nestlé under his tenure as 'une force tranquille' (English: 'calm strength'). He is known for having a reserved, quiet personal manner.[1] As of 2016, there has been talk of possibly succeeding him as a CEO of Nestle, with two potential candidates being Lauren Freixie the CEO of Nestle American operations and Wan Ling Martello the CEO of Nestle's Asia-Pacific Operations He graduated as a commercial engineer at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and is an alumnus of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. He also attended the program for executive development at the Swiss leading business school International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne

He graduated as a commercial engineer at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and is an alumnus of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. He also attended the program for executive development at the Swiss leading business school International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne