GCEO Hatem Dowdidar on how e& is redefining the future of tech and connectivity

At 10am on a Monday, Dubai’s sun blazes with relentless intensity, mirroring the city’s pulse. From e&’s Al Kifaf headquarters, the city unfolds: Burj Khalifa piercing the sky, the Dubai Metro slicing through the sprawl, and streets alive with motion. Every view reflects Dubai’s ethos: innovation, ambition, action.

Hatem Dowidar, e&’s group CEO, enters his office composed, his presence fronts a strategic mind that has earned him a reputation globally as both a visionary and disruptor. Taking the leadership role in 2020, he launched a bold transformation in 2022, prioritising tech innovation, diversification, and global expansion.

“When I became Group CEO in 2020, it was clear the traditional telecom model had slowed down globally. With spectrum, infrastructure, and technology demands accelerating, standing still would have meant falling behind. We faced a simple choice: defend the past or redesign the future. We chose reinvention — and set e& on a new path built around growth, innovation, and value creation.”

That reinvention led to the 2022 rebrand from Etisalat to e&, with “Go for More” as a rallying cry. More than a brand positioning, it marked a pivot from traditional telecom to a tech-driven digital leader, now active in 38 countries and serving 198 million customers across AI, fintech, and digital services.

“The rebrand was a cultural shift,” Dowidar says. “It pushed our teams to think beyond telecom and embrace a digital future.” The results followed: in 2023, e&’s portfolio was valued at over $14bn, earning a AAA brand rating. By 2024, it was the Middle East’s fastest-growing tech brand, and in 2025, it claimed the title of World’s Fastest Growing Brand with a brand portfolio and investment value exceeding $20bn.

Diversification as a growth engine

Building on this momentum, e& has made diversification a cornerstone of its strategy. Through e& life, the company has expanded digital lifestyles via platforms like evision, the MENA region’s largest content aggregator. In 2023, evision launched STARZ ON, a free AI-powered streaming service featuring regional, Hollywood, Bollywood, Arabic, French, and sports content. Partnerships such as the deal with Shahid strengthen premium entertainment access. e& also supports esports through collaborations with BLAST Premier and Arena Esports, an esports ecosystem powered by e&.

In fintech, e& money became the UAE’s top app by active users, simplifying payments and expanding global remittances through partnerships like MoneyGram and financial inclusion through its partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) to provide wage protection services via the e& money platform. The $400m acquisition of Careem’s Super App in 2023 further extended digital finance, micro-mobility, and app-based lifestyle services across the region.

Meanwhile, e& enterprise delivers solutions in cloud, AI, IoT, and cybersecurity, highlighted by a $1bn-plus AWS alliance to accelerate regional digital transformation. e& capital invests in startups that redefine industries and shape the future, both regionally and globally.

Lessons from bold bets

Every initiative moved us forward — some through outcomes, others through lessons. “Sometimes the tech adoption curve wasn’t there, or the infrastructure wasn’t ready,” Dowidar says. “In these cases, what’s important to learn is when to push and when to pull back.”

Early fintech ventures highlighted the need for regulatory alignment, while entertainment projects offered insights into user engagement. Across these experiences, e& learned to balance innovation with pragmatism. “Not everything will be bulletproof, and that’s okay. What matters is having the wisdom and foresight to know when to pause, pivot, and channel focus into what’s truly working,” he explains.

Significant milestones include the October 2024 acquisition of a controlling stake in PPF Telecom Group (now e& PPF Telecom Group), expanding operations to 38 countries, and the March 2024 $6bn pledge to enhance connectivity across 16 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Operating in emerging markets presents challenges such as currency swings and inflation, but Dowidar sees these as opportunities to build resilient strategies, diversify revenues, and reinvest in long-term infrastructure.

H1 2025 results reflect this: e& reported a 60.7 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Dhs8.8bn, while expansion continued with the opening of e& Wholesale Americas in Miami.

Four guiding pillars

Making the decision to diversify and pivot is treated strategically, says Dowidar, explaining that every decision at e& is measured against four questions: Does it strengthen the connectivity core? Does it accelerate digitalisation? Does it diversify the portfolio? Does it advance sustainability?

He explains: “This framework keeps us disciplined and ensures we’re building long-term value.”

Through this lens, every initiative is evaluated not just for immediate returns but for its contribution to a resilient, diversified, and sustainable digital ecosystem.

The UAE sovereign cloud partnership with AWS exemplifies this approach, supporting public sector digital transformation while reinforcing e&’s core capabilities. Similarly, the edge network partnership with Qualcomm integrates innovation, connectivity, and digitalisation, while collaborating with IBM to launch an AI Governance Platform and various AI-focused MoUs further advance e&’s role as a tech-driven enabler across industries.

These moves, along with a growing stake in the UK telecom sector via Vodafone, demonstrate e&’s commitment to disciplined, future-focused expansion — investments that are measured not just by immediate returns but by their ability to reinforce the company’s strategic pillars.

Technology and people are the backbone

Early investments in 5G allowed e& to lead in advanced technologies like network slicing and edge computing. Looking ahead, the company is preparing for quantum risks to encryption.

Partnerships with Microsoft and the acquisition of GlassHouse further embed AI and cloud capabilities across e&’s portfolio.

“Technology moves faster than any of us, but if your teams can’t keep up, innovation dies on the vine and you’ll burn out before you scale,” Dowidar notes. To address this, e& has launched the AI Academy and AI Graduate Programme, along with experiential initiatives like Excelerate&, giving teams hands-on exposure at Ericsson’s headquarters in Sweden. By cultivating internal talent, e& ensures innovation scales sustainably without over-reliance on external hires.

Public-private partnerships are key to transformation

However, large-scale digital transformation, Dowidar emphasises, cannot happen in isolation. Partnerships with governments allow scale, whether through sovereign cloud infrastructure, smart city platforms, or digital inclusion initiatives. The UAE sovereign cloud with AWS, which is endorsed by UAE Cyber Security Council, underscores how public-private alignment accelerates impact.

Further collaborations extend to the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology for industrial digitisation, iscore in Egypt for AI-powered credit risk management, and the UAE Cyber Security Council to develop unmanned traffic management systems.

“Partnering with governments is how you scale. Whether that’s sovereign cloud infrastructure, smart city platforms, or digital inclusion, scale comes when public sector priorities and private sector capabilities align,” Dowidar says. “Success requires shared vision, clear mandate, and both sides’ willingness and ability to move fast together.”

Pioneering innovation at GITEX Global 2025

Looking ahead to GITEX 2025, e& is focused on showcasing AI that delivers tangible, real-world impact. Dowidar says: “Last year, our focus was on showing AI in action, making it tangible rather than theoretical. This year, we’re going further — more industries, more communities, more scale. We’re less interested in adding to the AI hype, and more focused on proving what it can do in practice.”

Initiatives such as Qualcomm and e&’s AI at the Edge illustrate this philosophy. By embedding AI directly into edge networks, e& is enabling industries, from manufacturing to logistics, to harness real-time insights, improve efficiency, and drive smarter, safer decision-making.

The company’s enterprise collaborations, including e& enterprise and Microsoft, further highlight the drive to adopt AI at scale, bringing the benefits of advanced analytics and machine learning to a wider business ecosystem in the UAE.

Focused on integrity

As e& shapes the UAE’s digital future, Dowidar reflects: “Integrity is the most valuable currency a leader can have. Progress isn’t about moving fast; it’s about moving in the right direction. Surround yourself with people you trust, dare them to be bold, and you’ll achieve far more together than you ever could alone.”

For emerging leaders, his lessons underscore vision, discipline, and human focus. At e&, innovation is vital, but teams empowered to take risks and learn remain the company’s greatest asset.

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Leadership lessons with Hatem Dowidar, GCEO, e&

Putting the customer at the centre

“What we’ve really focused on is putting the customer at the centre—whether that’s an individual, a corporate, a small business, or a government entity. We aim to be a one-stop partner for all their technology needs. For decades, we have delivered connectivity and entertainment on demand.

Today, we’re adding services that meet the needs of a fast-changing world: enterprise solutions like cloud, IoT, cybersecurity, and now AI-as-a-service. Many businesses can’t hire a chief AI officer or build an AI team, so we do that for them. For individuals, it’s about connectivity, entertainment, our super app partnerships, loyalty programmes like Smiles, and financial tools like e& money. It’s a comprehensive ecosystem designed around daily needs.

What drives me to come to work every day
Two things. First, it’s the responsibility toward all our stakeholders: customers, employees, and shareholders. Making the company a success is both a privilege and a challenge, and the drive to do a little better every day is exciting. Second, it’s about reshaping an industry I’ve been in for more than 30 years. Telecom has long been seen as a utility, just about connectivity. We’re repositioning it as the hub of all digital needs, back at the centre of technology where it belongs.

The leadership lessons that matter most
For me, leadership is about the “&” in our name; choosing “and” rather than “or.” Too many companies think they must pick between growth or profitability, telecom or tech. We look at how to combine opportunities, to go for more, not less. It’s about keeping an expansive mindset and encouraging the team to pursue multiple avenues for growth and service.

Facing challenges head on
Challenges are inevitable, whether you’re running a small company, a large corporation, or just navigating life. The key is to understand the real impact of the challenge and what it takes to overcome it. Sometimes you go straight through it, sometimes you must go around it. The first step is always clarity; knowing exactly what you’re facing.

A personal motto to stay inspired
It’s about going for more and creating a legacy. e& has been around for 50 years, which is old in telecom terms. The real question is: what are we building today that will keep this company thriving for the next 100 years? That’s the perspective that drives me.

How I manage my day
I believe every day has one thing that matters most. Many people create long to-do lists, but usually, one task will account for 90 per cent of success. Identifying that priority and focusing on it, even if it means dropping everything else, is how I manage my time and ensure progress.

Read: e&’s Khalifa Al Shamsi on engineering a new era of digital possibilities