Etisalat names new division heads as part of digital transformation strategy
Mikhail Gerchuk and Khalifa Hassan have decades of experience behind them
Dubai: The UAE’s largest telecom operator Etisalat on Thursday announced the appointment of two senior officials in leadership roles.
Mikhail Gerchuk has been appointed CEO - International. The company also named Khalifa Hassan Al Shamsi as head of its consumer digital business.
Reporting to Hatem Dowidar - Etisalat’s Group CEO, Gerchuk and Al Shamsi will help secure the organisation’s growth mandate. Gerchuk will be responsible for providing comprehensive direction to develop and implement the international telco strategy and the accompanying long-term plans needed for maintaining growth across international operations. Al Shamsi’s appointment is part of Etisalat Group’s ongoing digital transformation strategy to significantly expand its digital portfolio by growing the existing business, as well as capturing new opportunities in the consumer market, through its new dedicated vertical – Etisalat Consumer Digital.
The announcement follows the appointment of Salvador Anglada as the CEO of Etisalat Enterprise Digital in November 2021, to drive digital transformation by enabling enterprises and governments to become smarter through the use of the latest technologies such as Cloud, Cyber Security, Internet of Things (IoT) and AI.
Al Shamsi began his career with Etisalat spanning nearly three decades and has a proven track record in telecom and digital services backed by a solid commercial and technical background. He has held several leadership positions within Etisalat Group, including Head of Mobile Networks, Chief Marketing Offices and Chief Digital Officer.
With over 20 years of experience in the telecoms industry, Gerchuk has held several notable leadership roles with Vodafone, MTS, and VEON, covering marketing, product and services development, and launching new business segments. In his most recent role, he was the Senior Advisor – Telecom, Media and Technology Practice – at McKinsey & Company, London. Before that, he was the VEON CEO for the Eurasia region, where he was instrumental in successfully turning around the decline in business revenue and achieving strong growth, thus increasing profitability dramatically.