Ofcom Gets New CTO As UK Regulator Welcomes Amazon Alexa Smart Home Exec

Ofcom is to get a new full-time CTO this autumn in Sachin Jogia, who has spent the last nine years at Amazon and is currently GM of the Alexa Smart Home product management and business teams.

Jogia will take up the position behind a shiny new desk in October, roughly two years after Mansoor Hanif left the role at the UK comms regulator for a new job at NEOM, an eco-friendly smart city in the Middle East.

In addition to Alexa Smart Home International duties at Amazon, Jogia was previously global head of product management for sponsored display ads and head of product management for the Media Group.

This experience – as well as his senior technology roles at AOL and advertising.com – is said to be of particular relevance as Ofcom marshals its troops ahead of increased powers for regulating online safety.

"As Chief Technology Officer, Sachin will lead Ofcom's work to support innovation across the sectors we regulate including broadcasting, telecoms, wireless services and post," said Ofcom in a canned remark.

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"He joins as Ofcom is set to receive new powers to help keep people safe online through the Online Safety Bill, while the Telecoms Security Bill will also extend its security responsibilities."

Yih-Choung Teh, Group Director of Strategy and Research at Ofcom, has been interim CTO at the regulator for the last two years, carrying out the role until a replacement – announced today – was found.

Yesterday, research from Yih-Choung's department revealed the UK is hooked on digital stuff.

It's been a period of change at the upper echelons of Ofcom, including the departure of Sharon White in 2019 when she accepted a £1m-a-year job as chairwoman at the John Lewis Group, and has run through some dramatic changes.

Hopefully, for Ofcom's sake, latest addition Jogia will stick around longer than his predecessor Hanif, who became the regulator's CTO after leaving BT and spent just a year in situ.

Reg readers will no doubt raise an eyebrow that an industry regulator is again hiring an advocate for big tech. ®