Virat Bhatia serves as the Managing Director at Apple India. He spearheads strategy and policy in India, supporting all of Apple’s investments and business operations. These include Manufacturing, Retail, App Store, Maps, Content, Services and Digital Payments.
Always one to foster collaboration, teamwork, innovation and support young talent, Virat’s career in the ICT sector spans over 25 years across multiple functions. These include general management, strategy, operations, communications and policy. Uniquely, he has led both the Services and Manufacturing side of businesses in Fortune 500 companies. Before Apple, he served in multiple, senior positions at AT&T, including as the Chairman of AT&T in India and later, as AT&T’s Regional President for South Asia. Prior to that, he was part of the team that was responsible for Coca Cola’s return to India in the mid-90s.
Virat currently serves on the India Executive Leadership Board of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), and on FICCI’s National Executive Committee. In 2014, the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon appointed him to the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the UN Internet Governance Forum (UNIGF). In the past, he has served as the Vice President of the Commission on ICT of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and as the Vice Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in India.
He is an alumnus of the Delhi University and John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Virat has also completed Advance Management Programmes at Kellogg’s School of Management, and Wharton Business School.