As the telecom industry in India prepares for the 5G era, Rahul Vatts of Bharti Airtel and Abhijit Kishore of Vodafone Idea are now leading COAI.

The COAI said in a release on Wednesday that Bharti Airtel Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO) Rahul Vatts will serve as the vice chairperson, and Vodafone Idea Chief Operating Officer (COO) Abhijit Kishore will remain the COAI chairperson for 2025–2026.

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are among the members of COAI, which announced that its Annual General Body meeting for FY 2024–2025 is already over. At the conference, the COAI Leadership for 2025–2026 was also revealed. Rahul Vatts, the CRO of Bharti Airtel, will serve as the Vice Chairperson, while Abhijit Kishore, the COO of Vodafone Idea, will once again serve as the Chairperson.

Kishore has worked in the Indian telecom sector for more than thirty years, in a variety of roles, companies, and regions. He was the Chief Enterprise Business Officer of Vodafone Idea's Enterprise Business before assuming the position of COO. In order to serve enterprises in the digital age, VIL Business launched technologies, including managed services, integrated IoT, and security as a service, under his leadership.

With 29 years of expertise, Vatts is an authority in economic regulations, spectrum management, telecom and broadcasting licenses, and regulatory litigation. Serving as Bharti Airtel's chief regulatory officer, Vatts oversees the company's government relations, policy, and regulatory interfaces across all digital business lines, mobile broadband, DTH, data centers, undersea cables, and overseas operations.

He is a member of the spectrum strategy and management group, the global policy group, and the chair of the GSMA's spectrum policy working group. Additionally, Vatts serves on the governing councils of many Indian telecom standards organizations.