A degree in engineering and a career in telecommunications were long-cherished ambitions for Ahmed Bin Ali. He managed to fulfil both. “I had won one of the early educational scholarships offered by Etisalat. This helped define my future and put me on course to be involved with the most exciting company in the Middle East,” says Ali.

As group senior vice-president, Etisalat, he has a number of challenging responsibilities to deal with. “I lead the group’s communications functions across its 18 countries of operations. I also oversee the company’s sponsorship and corporate social responsibility strategies,” he says.

Ali counts his leadership and management skills as his key professional strengths. “I try to be democratic where possible and allow my team to participate in decision-making,” he says. “I understand that different people offer different perspectives and can help to generate better results. This is particularly the case in Etisalat where employees come from different countries and have a wide range of experience and expertise to share.”

In a fast-paced sector, keeping up with technology trends is a challenge. “Keeping abreast of technologies and innovation, trying to spot trends before they happen and rapidly defining a business model that delivers value to our stakeholders are amongst the greatest challenges for our industry today,” he comments.

Going forward, he expects several new trends in the Indian telecom space. To begin with, cloud computing will witness substantial growth, he believes. Next, mobile broadband technologies will gain traction. “Deployment of these technologies is certain, as access to the internet becomes a right and not just a privilege for the community. In the future, broadband access and infrastructure will become nation critical, as countries compete for foreign investment,” he says.

From an infrastructure and technological perspective, he expects sustainability issues and the environment to become key considerations for telecom companies. “Automation and remote management of facilities are already very important as companies and government departments try to reduce power consumption and carbon emissions. We have invested in various technologies, including smart buildings, machine-to-machine and alternative energy, to ensure that we are in a position to service the market.”

In the midst of all this, does he find any time for a breather? “In the past four years, Etisalat’s expansion has not offered much  spare time. Our operations have different time zones and weekends,” he says wryly.