Dr Bharat Vagadia is a Global Tech and Digital Economy professional with over 25 years of experience. He is currently Head of Regulatory Affairs at Ooredoo Group responsible for strategic regulatory engagement at Group level, developing strategy, ensuring compliance, and driving advocacy, with oversight across the MENA and Asia region. Previously he was a board director at Ooredoo Myanmar, one of the fastest growing operators in the region.

He has worked across 25 countries and advised over 40 global TMT clients as a Management Consultant prior to joining Ooredoo. He has advised Governments, Regulatory authorities, multinationals, start-ups, as well as venture capital and PE firms. He has been instrumental in sector liberalization, creation of licensing frameworks and the broader development of regulatory environments that foster competition and long-term consumer welfare.

He helped set up the legal and regulatory framework in Bahrain, developed telecommunications policy for Jordan, advised on the regulatory strategy for the UAE regulator, developed licensing frameworks for Oman, undertook due diligence for a Russian operator, and developed strategies and strategic responses for numerous mobile operators.

He currently chairs the GSMA's MENA Policy Group, was chair of the AsiaPac Policy Group, sits on the Global Chief Regulatory Officers Group and chairs the IIC MENA Chapter.

He holds a PhD (Middlesex), LLM (Northumbria), MBA (Imperial College London), B-Eng (King’s College London), Cert. Governance (ICSA), DipM (CIM), IAPP/E and IAPP AI Governance Professional. He is the author of four distinguished books. His most recent book being Digital Disruption – Implications and opportunities for Economies, Society, Policy Makers and Business Leaders. He is a mentor and executive coach to the next generation of leaders and is currently a HEC Paris MBA Capstone Adviser.