Business
Decentralized but not fragmented: A new way to think about operations
Future-ready organizations need to seek out more progressive operational models need to shift towards more decentralized and technology-driven operations.
Saeed Al Zarooni
Saeed Al Zarooni is the Group Chief Procurement Officer at e&. He leads procurement, enabling the adoption of cutting-edge technologies through the establishment and expansion of external partnerships.
Saeed joined e& in 1994 and has led several divisions within the group, including as Acting Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Mobile Networks, where he oversaw network operations, planning, and provisioning as well as satellite network operations. In November 2021, he became the Group Chief Procurement Officer of e&.
An accomplished Engineer with 30 years of experience, Saeed has supported the group in achieving several milestones, including the acquisition of e&’s first international business licence in Saudi Arabia as a member of the Mobily bidding committee. Additionally, he spearheaded the vendor selection process to develop the mobile network infrastructure for e& across Egypt, Nigeria, and India. Under his leadership as the Senior Vice President of Mobile Networks, Saeed was responsible for the seamless connectivity of the entire Expo 2020 site. As a member of e&’s management team, he was instrumental in the launch of the first 3G, 4G and 5G LTE mobile network services in the Middle East in 2003, 2011, and 2018 respectively.
As Group Chief Procurement Officer, Saeed received two prestigious awards at the CIPS MENA Conference in 2023 and was named a finalist at the Gartner Awards for outstanding procurement contributions. He led sustainable procurement initiatives in alignment with the company's COP28 strategy including a digital strategy to streamline procurement processes and Project Life. The Responsible Sourcing Project, the first of its kind in the Middle East telecom industry, accelerates the group’s Net Zero targets while enabling the UAE's sustainability goals by embedding ESG across the entire procurement value chain.
From 2013 to 2016, he served as a board member of Atlantic Telecom (Etisalat Africa Group of Subsidiaries). Since 2016, he has served on the board of Smartworld, a joint venture between e& and Dubai South, where he is also Chairman of the HR Committee. Saeed is also a board member at the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), an organisation committed to creating and enabling digital sustainability globally.
Saeed is a seasoned executive who has ascended through the ranks of the technology sector, accumulating extensive expertise in the telecommunications industry and within the structures of e&. After graduating from Etisalat College, he earned a bachelor's degree in telecommunications engineering from Khalifa University.
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