Natalie Black CBE

Natalie Black CBE joined Ofcom in 2024 as Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity and Executive Board Member. She is also responsible for leading Ofcom’s work on the implications of Artificial Intelligence.

Previously, Natalie was the UK’s first His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, she led the UK’s trade strategy and operations across 15 countries and was the UK’s first Senior Economic Official to ASEAN. Highlights included the UK’s first Digital Economy Agreement, securing new investment deals from Australia and Japan and joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

In the UK, Natalie was Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit where she oversaw the AI Review (2017) and established and led the first cross-government Online Harms Unit. Natalie has over 10 years of experience in cyber security and led the National Cyber Security Programme as Deputy Director and Director of the Office of Cyber Security in the Cabinet Office after joining the Civil Service from London 2012, where she was Chief of Staff to the Director of Security.

Natalie is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics. She was previously a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a trustee of Bletchley Park and co-founded GBxAsia (now British Tech Advisers) to support collaboration between the UK and Asian tech ecosystems.

Natalie is a graduate of the LSE and Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a Fulbright scholar.