Kai Hattendorf is Managing Director / CEO of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, since 2015. As such, he is responsible for all UFI activities and events, as well as the operation of its three offices in Paris, Hong Kong and Sharjah.

Prior to his current role, Kai worked in the exhibition industry for a number of years in senior management positions at Messe Frankfurt’s global headquarters, focusing on transformational issues ranging from digitisation to marketing and communications.

His previous career also includes leadership positions in marketing/strategic communications as well as in strategy and product development in the ITC and Media Industry for the Deutsche Telekom Group, the dpa Group (the German Press Agency), and a start-up. A journalist by education, Kai has internationally reported and worked for the WDR and Radio Bremen broadcasters in Germany, at Euronews in France, the BBC in the UK, and the Voice of America. He holds a Master’s degree from the American University, Washington, DC. He also studied in Dortmund and Edinburgh.