meet the team

Multicultural, multilingual, multi-talented: it's our friendly team of 60-plus experts and business support staff that really make Cullen International what it is. We come from 33 countries and speak 32 languages, but we all share the same passion for regulation and a commitment to making our expertise easily accessible to clients. Get to know the team below - or, if you’d like to join us, why not visit our Careers page?

    Chandan Agarwal Principal Web Developer
    Principal Web Developer

    Chandan is a web and Java developer working on Cullen International’s website and authoring platform. He worked as consultant for the company in 2012-2013 and joined the IT Team in April 2015. Chandan has international experience as a Java developer in India, France, Netherlands and Belgium.

    Virginie Alloo Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Virginie follows regulatory developments in the postal sector, with a focus on national developments in Belgium and France. Since joining Cullen International in 2008, Virginie has reported on e-commerce issues, after previously working as a regulatory advisor at Belgacom.

    Gilles Bana Global Trends Analyst
    Global Trends Analyst

    Gilles works as a Global Trends regulatory analyst. Previously, he worked in Geneva on the legal issues and implications of emerging technologies on digital trade. Gilles holds a Master's degree in International and European Law from the University of Lille and a digital commerce certificate from the DiploFoundation.

    Elisar Bashir Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Elisar follows EU regulation shaping the digital economy with a particular focus on AI and data-related technologies. She has previous experience working for a tech company and the European External Action Service, among others. Elisar has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Oxford and holds a Master in International Relations and Law of the European Union from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

    Nathalie Berrettoni Administrative Manager
    Administrative Manager

    Nathalie leads the administration and human resources departments. She joined Cullen International in 1997.

    Vira Bigot Business Development Analyst
    Business Development Analyst

    Vira is responsible for business development in new markets in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Before joining Cullen International in 2018, Vira worked as a business developer for a Belgian tech start-up. She has a LLM degree in international and European law with a specialisation in business law from Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

    Veronica Bocarova Head of Regulatory Training
    Head of Regulatory Training

    Veronica is responsible for Cullen International’s regulatory training portfolio, developing and executing training and capacity building programmes for industry stakeholders, policymakers and regulators across the globe. With over 20 years of professional experience, she has extensive knowledge of the implementation of the EU regulatory framework across Europe. Before joining Cullen International, Veronica worked for Ericsson consulting practice in Stockholm.

    Youcef Bouharaoua Data Scientist
    Data Scientist

    As data scientist at Cullen International, Youcef is responsible for turning data into insights. He holds a master's degree in computer science from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) where he is also a researcher. Previously, Youcef worked at the National Bank of Belgium, the ULB, and at Colruyt Group.

    Sébastien Breyne Finance Manager
    Finance Manager

    Sébastien is in charge of finance. He is responsible for the budget process and financial data analysis. He joined Cullen International in 2013.

    Naijen Caro Jara Communications & Events Coordinator
    Communications & Events Coordinator

    Naijen joined Cullen International in 2018 to support the Marketing & Communication team. She includes among her responsibilities the Helpdesk, contributing to Cullen’s social media presence, updating the website, and managing client access. Naijen holds a masters degree in advertising and commercial communication from the Institute for Higher Social Communication Studies (IHECS) of Brussels.

    Jan Cisar Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Jan follows telecoms regulation in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey. Before joining Cullen International in 2013, Jan was a regulatory economist at Telefónica Czech Republic.

    Philippe Defraigne Founding Director
    Founding Director

    A founding director of Cullen International in 1988, Philippe has worked extensively on EU regulation affecting the telecoms and internet sectors and the implementation at national level across Europe. He is widely regarded in the industry as one of the leading experts in the field. Philippe pioneered the practice of cross-country benchmarking of national regulation – the core methodology used across all of Cullen International's intelligence services. He leads business development activities for the company – focussing on building Cullen International's business outside of Europe, in particular in Latin America, the Middle East & North Africa. Philippe frequently presents Cullen International research at industry conferences, client briefings and training courses.

    Hugues Dehaut Administrative Assistant
    Administrative Assistant

    Hugues is a trained translator and recently joined Cullen International to bring support to the Administration Team. He speaks French, English and Spanish as well as a some Brazilian and Italian.

    Delphine Demanet Principal IT Specialist
    Principal IT Specialist

    Delphine manages a large part of Cullen International infrastructure assets, from small laptops to large printers, from operating systems to mails and applications, including acquisition, delivery and support. She is also a certified Scrum Business Owner, participating in the life-cycle of internal applications and acting as release manager for our web publishing system. Delphine joined Cullen International in 2000.

    Charlotte Dercq Senior Client Data Administrator
    Senior Client Data Administrator

    Charlotte ensures the smooth processing of customer contracts and renewals, and maintains the internal financial accounts. She worked for Cullen International on an interim basis, before joining full-time in 2017. She previously worked as a financial controller in the banking sector.

    Jérôme Dheur Principal Analyst
    Principal Analyst

    Jérôme follows EU regulation affecting the internet and media sectors. He also follows the television market in France. Jérôme is lead author of the Media Cross-Country Analysis report covering Western Europe. He is leading the development of a similar report covering Latin America. Jérôme joined the company in 1999. In 2012 he took a sabbatical to work nine months for Cable Europe.

    Catalina Diaz Granados Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Catalina follows telecoms, media and digital economy in Colombia and Chile. She was head of regulation at the Colombian telecommunications regulator and since 2012 has been an independent consultant focused on telecommunications regulation and public policy.

    Ezequiel Dominguez Director of Business Development
    Director of Business Development

    Ezequiel heads business development at Cullen International. Until end 2015, Ezequiel led the coverage of the fast-growing telecoms and television sectors in Latin America (now Americas), having co-founded the service in 2010. Based in Brussels, he travels frequently across the globe to meet telecoms and television providers, regulators and government ministries. Prior to his collaboration with Cullen International, Ezequiel was a senior researcher at Informa Telecoms & Media in London.

    Peter Dunn Director of European Relations
    Director of European Relations

    Peter is responsible for developing and maintaining close relations with Cullen’s clients and other contacts in Europe. He regularly presents Cullen’s research in industry conferences and training courses. Peter also leads the regulatory intelligence service covering sustainability. Before joining Cullen International in 2010, he worked in the UK and continental Europe for Orange and for Colt; and for Digicel Group in the Caribbean.

    Jonathan Eloot Front-End Developer
    Front-End Developer

    Jonathan works as a front-end developer for Cullen International’s website and client portal. He brings a diverse set of skills from his previous professional experience as a graphic designer and marketer, including at Sii Belgium & Actito.

    Teresa Félix Analyst
    Analyst

    Teresa follows telecoms regulation in Portugal. She is a legal expert in EU and national telecoms and postal regulation, largely dedicated to consumer issues. Before joining Cullen International, Teresa worked in Portugal at the national regulatory authority for communications (ANACOM) as a legal advisor to the Information and Consumers Department. She has also worked as a legal advisor at the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection.

    Armen Ghalumyan Head of Postal
    Head of Postal

    Armen leads our research on postal regulation in Europe, ensuring the timely delivery and continuous improvement of high-quality content. Armen re-joined Cullen International in 2023 after working on regulation and market access in the satellite communications sector.

    Valentina Grasso Senior Administrator
    Senior Administrator

    Valentina prepares subsidy applications, contracts, tenders and other administrative services to support clients. Before joining Cullen International, Valentina worked for 12 years in the Public Affairs office of Telecom Italia in Brussels. Valentina has a degree in translation, speaking Italian, French and English, as well as some Spanish and Dutch.

    Ali Hayajneh Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Ali follows telecoms regulation in the MENA region, focusing on regulatory developments in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Before joining Cullen International in 2020, Ali worked in Jordan at the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and at Zain. Ali has also worked with the Qatar Communications Regulatory Authority and in the UAE for Etisalat.

    Olha Hruba Senior Media Analyst
    Senior Media Analyst

    Olha follows EU regulation affecting the digital economy and audiovisual media sectors, with a focus on national developments in the Netherlands. Olha holds an advanced master degree in intellectual property and information and communications technology law from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. She joined the company in 2017.

    Javier Huerta Bravo Head of Digital Economy
    Head of Digital Economy

    Javier leads the digital economy regulatory intelligence service for Europe. Before joining Cullen International in 2014, Javier worked at the European Commission on copyright, e-commerce and other topics related to online services. He is a qualified lawyer.

    Dries Indesteege Head of Telecoms Europe
    Head of Telecoms Europe

    Dries leads our research on telecoms regulation in Europe, pulling in contributions from our analysts and correspondents across the continent. Prior to his collaboration with Cullen International, Dries worked at Belgacom/Proximus on local loop unbundling and the company's launch of IPTV.

    Alexandre Jadoul Junior Finance Assistant
    Junior Finance Assistant

    Alexandre Jadoul is the new Junior Finance Assistant for the finance department at Cullen. He works closely with the Finance manager and helps him in his daily tasks. He also provides some support to the Administration Team.

    Jose Jehuda Garcia Senior Analyst Americas
    Senior Analyst Americas

    Jose works as a senior analyst in the Americas team, covering regulation in the media, telecoms and digital economy sectors. He is a practising lawyer in the USA with experience in copyright, consumer credit, and business transactions. Jose has previous experience as a writer and producer for radio, TV, and film.

    Janne Kalliala Head of Competition Law
    Head of Competition Law

    Janne is responsible for the Competition Law service of Cullen International that tracks and analyses competition law developments at both EU and national level. He also follows telecoms regulation in Finland. Prior to his collaboration with Cullen International, Janne was a competition lawyer in Helsinki.

    Merilin Kasesalu Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Merilin follows regulatory developments for telecoms in Europe, in particular covering developments in Estonia, Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as UK consumer protection topics. Merilin has worked in the public and private sectors, including as manager of regulatory affairs and competition law compliance at Telia.

    Monika Kačeriaková Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Monika follows regulatory developments for Cullen’s telecoms, digital economy and postal services. Following experience at the regulatory department of Slovak Telekom, Monika was a telecoms consultant, including working with Cullen International as an associate since 2006.

    Muatasem Khair Ad-Deen Principal Analyst
    Principal Analyst

    Muatasem traces telecoms regulation in Middle East & North Africa. He follows the regulation in Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Before joining Cullen International in 2016, he worked at the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the Competition Authority of Jordan.

    Jacek Kowalski Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Jacek follows telecoms regulation at EU level and is a leading contributor to the EU Telecoms Trackers. He is also the country specialist for Poland for the Telecoms service. Jacek’s previous experience includes being a programme manager at the BEREC Office, and a policy officer at DG Connect.

    Miklós Kozma Competition Law Analyst
    Competition Law Analyst

    Miklós tracks and analyses competition law developments at both EU and national level in all sectors covered by Cullen International (telecoms, media, digital economy and postal). Miklós holds a master’s degree in law from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He first joined the company as an intern in 2016.

    Dieter Kronegger

    Dieter follows telecoms regulation in Germany and Austria and is the lead author of the Spectrum Service. Before the start of his collaboration with Cullen International in 2005, Dieter worked at the Austrian telecoms and media regulator RTR.

    Loïc Le Floch Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Loïc follows regulatory developments in the telecoms sector, with a focus on Algeria, France and Morocco. Before joining Cullen International, Loïc managed regulatory and wholesale affairs for Algerian operator Djezzy and worked as head of economic affairs in Maroc Telecom Group’s regulation and legal affairs department.

    Michèle Ledger Head of Media
    Head of Media

    Michèle leads Cullen International’s Media regulatory intelligence service. She worked for many years in the digital economy practice and has extensive knowledge of the implementation of the EU frameworks at national level across Europe. She is a researcher at the CRIDS research centre of the University of Namur where she also lectures on the regulatory aspects of online platforms at the postmaster degree course (DTIC). She joined Cullen International in 1998, previously working as a lawyer in Brussels.

    Susanne Lesschaeve Head of Marketing & Communication
    Head of Marketing & Communication

    Susanne is in charge of marketing and communications, including event management. She joined Cullen International in 2012, bringing 16 years of marketing experience in the ICT and medical sectors.

    Carolina Limbatto Head of service, Americas
    Head of service, Americas

    Carolina leads Cullen International’s Americas services covering the telecoms, media, digital economy and spectrum sectors. Before joining Cullen in 2014, Carolina worked at the Argentine telecoms policy-maker, SeCom, as an advisor on regulatory and economic issues. Carolina is an economist specialised in regulation and competition. She speaks regularly at Latin American regional events on key regulatory issues in the ICT and digital sectors.

    Fleur Luyckfasseel Administrative Assistant
    Administrative Assistant

    Fleur supports Cullen’s administration team, managing travel and events, as well as assisting with the renewal of official documents. Fleur recently graduated in Tourism and Event Management, followed by a traineeship as an administrative assistant for WEP Belgium, a tour operator for young travellers. Fleur speaks French, Dutch, English and Italian.

    Serge Margoulies Chief Information Officer
    Chief Information Officer

    Serge leads Cullen International’s IT team, managing the company’s infrastructure, information systems, business applications and web sites. Serge joined Cullen International in 2010, previously working as Product Manager, CTO or CEO for multiple companies in Europe, USA and Canada.

    Marianna Mattera Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Marianna follows privacy regulation at EU level and national legislative developments in the digital economy in France. She is an expert in EU telecoms regulation as well. Before joining Cullen International, Marianna worked at the European Commission (DG JUST) and as a lawyer in Italy. She is a qualified lawyer.

    Alessandro Mauro Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Alessandro is responsible for managing the European telecoms benchmark tables, and for monitoring the evolution of the telecoms regulatory framework in Italy. Before joining Cullen International, Alessandro had long experience at Telecom Italia and FiberCop, after having worked in the reinsurance industry in London. Alessandro holds a degree in Economics from “La Sapienza” University of Rome and a Master’s degree in EU project financing.

    Albert Mehana Accountant
    Accountant

    Albert handles the day-to-day accounting tasks of the company. He joined Cullen International in 2016.

    Pedro Miranda Analyst Americas
    Analyst Americas

    Pedro works as an Americas analyst, following the latest regulatory developments in Brazil. His previous experience includes public policy advocacy and public relations in Congress. Pedro is a lawyer with a Bachelor's Degree in law from Universidade de Brasília.

    Javier Morales Fhon Senior Analyst, Global Trends and Americas
    Senior Analyst, Global Trends and Americas

    Javier is a senior regulatory analyst, following digital economy and media in Peru, and global tech trends across India, Singapore, and other ASEAN jurisdictions. Javier previously worked for Telefonica and for the Peruvian telecoms regulator, Osiptel. He is an economist and a lawyer with a master’s degree in Economics and Competition Law from the Toulouse School of Economics.

    Andre Moura Gomes Head of service, Global Trends
    Head of service, Global Trends

    André is a lawyer specialized in public policy and regulation working with Cullen since 2016. He manages the Global Trends service, and is also lead author of several publications for Global Trends and Americas services. Over the years André has extensively published on telecoms and digital economy developments in Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and the United States, contributed to trainings and spoken at major international conferences and events. Prior to his collaboration with Cullen, André worked as a policy advisor at the Brazilian Ministry of Communications coordinating policies for expanding broadband services.

    Sebastian-Dan Naste Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Sebastian follows EU regulation related to privacy and data protection, as well as national legislative developments covering the digital economy more broadly in Ireland and Romania. He joined Cullen International from a consultancy company in Brussels, where he was a public affairs manager. Sebastian worked at the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU in the team dealing with cybersecurity and telecom during Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2019. Previously, he worked for Deloitte Luxembourg advising the EU institutions on how to address the cyber and privacy challenges. Sebastian has an LL.M Master’s Degree in Law and Technology from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

    Laurence Nivot Consumer Protection Manager
    Consumer Protection Manager

    Laurence follows telecoms regulation in Belgium, France and Lithuania. Laurence is also lead author of the Consumer Protection Cross-Country Analysis report, covering 12 European countries. Laurence joined Cullen International in 2012, previously working as a journalist for the European Commission's news website.

    Felipe Olchenski Business Development Analyst
    Business Development Analyst

    Felipe is responsible for business development in emerging markets. Before joining Cullen International, Felipe worked as Account Manager for Huawei in Brazil and at the Government and Public Affairs Department.

    Matej Podbevsek Principal Analyst
    Principal Analyst

    Matej follows telecoms regulation in Latvia, Slovenia and the UK, and is the lead author of the monthly Europe Telecom Update. Before joining Cullen International in 2014, Matej was a senior advisor in the telecommunications department of the Slovenian regulator for communication networks and services (AKOS).

    Pierre-Yves Potelle Head of Product Development
    Head of Product Development

    Pierre-Yves focuses on essential product development, working with our heads of services and business team to ensure that our services meet clients’ current and future needs. He also supports analysts in content design and production to improve the usability and digestibility of Cullen contents. He is one of the creators of the Cullen Legislation Navigator and coordinates development of all major Cullen services with our IT team. Pierre-Yves also follows telecoms regulation in Switzerland and visits clients to brief them on regulatory topics. Pierre-Yves has worked for Cullen International in Brussels for 20 years.

    Visiola Pula Senior Analyst
    Senior Analyst

    Visiola follows cybersecurity regulation at EU level and national cybersecurity developments in the UK and Ireland. At EU level, she focuses on initiatives such as the NIS Directive, 5G security and the EU cybersecurity act. Visiola joined Cullen International in July 2015, after graduating from the University of Hamburg in EU Law and Affairs.

    Rihab Rabbaj Junior Business Development Analyst
    Junior Business Development Analyst

    Rihab joined the business development team in 2022 with a specific focus on emerging markets. She previously took part in the export program of the Walloon Export and Foreign Investment agency of Belgium. Rihab holds three master’s degrees in management focusing on commercial actions, marketing and international business from the National School of Business and Management of Marrakech in Morocco, HEC Liège in Belgium and the University of Pavià in Italy.

    Laura Sboarina Principal Media Analyst
    Principal Media Analyst

    Laura follows EU regulation affecting the media sector, specialising on television and online video services. She also follows the television markets in Italy and in the US. Laura joined Cullen International in 2011, previously representing in Brussels the European association of television and radio advertising sales houses (EGTA). She also worked at the Italian public service broadcaster, RAI.

    Elena Scaramuzzi Head of Global Research
    Head of Global Research

    At Cullen International since 2009, Elena led new service developments in the Americas and, more recently, designed and led the launch of the Global Trends service. With 30 years’ work experience in the sector, before joining Cullen International Elena worked for Telecom Italia and the World Bank.

    Martin Schraa Principal Analyst
    Principal Analyst

    Martin manages the coverage of telecoms regulation at EU level, including the European Commission, Parliament, Council and BEREC. He also follows postal and telecoms regulation in the Netherlands. Martin joined Cullen International in 2007 after an internship at the European Telecommunications Network Operators' association (ETNO).

    Céline Senay Analyst
    Analyst

    Céline follows telecoms regulation in Luxembourg and Turkey, as well as postal regulation in Luxembourg and Ireland. Céline holds a master’s degree in economic law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and an advanced master’s in information and Communication Technology law from Université de Namur, Belgium.

    Bianca Sofian Senior Sustainability Analyst
    Senior Sustainability Analyst

    Bianca follows EU legislation and regulation on sustainability. She previously worked for a European consultancy providing advice on the legal regulatory compliance of products placed on the EU market. Bianca holds a Masters degree in Law and Economics from the University of Utrecht and attended an intensive programme on EU Environmental Policies and Law at Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles.

    James Thomson Editor in Chief, Global Trends and Digital Economy Europe
    Editor in Chief, Global Trends and Digital Economy Europe

    James and the editorial team are responsible for maintaining high editorial standards and trust in the quality of Cullen International’s publications on digital policy, regulation and law. This prioritises accuracy, clarity, neutral analysis, and relevancy to a global readership in industry, government and regulatory authorities. James has been in Cullen International for 25 years in analyst, service head and editorial positions.

    Miljana Todorovic Digital Economy Analyst
    Digital Economy Analyst

    Miljana follows policy and regulation in the UK shaping the digital economy, and EU-wide data and platform regulation. Before joining Cullen International, Miljana worked as a university researcher and lecturer. Miljana holds a Ph.D. from the University of Belgrade, and an LL.M. in International Business Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

    Michael van Maris van Dijk Analyst
    Analyst

    Michael follows regulation of the telecoms sector in Cyprus, and of the postal sector in Austria and the United Kingdom. He holds a BA in Law with Law Studies in Europe from the University of Oxford.

    Nathalie Vereecke Website Editor
    Website Editor

    Nathalie is responsible for quality control of the publications on our website and supporting analysts. Nathalie joined Cullen International in 2001.

    Sarah Vergote Senior Marketing & Communications Specialist
    Senior Marketing & Communications Specialist

    Sarah is responsible for event organisation and coordination, providing comprehensive support for participants. With a graduate degree in tourism, Sarah joined Cullen International in 2013, using her experience to run our events, which include training courses, webinars, briefings and conferences.