Verizon and T-Mobile US announced new CEOs — will AT&T?
The world of telecom and wireless investment has undergone significant changes. Now, it looks like a change of CEO leadership and rapid growth in AI, the next wave of transformation is now upon us. So, let us take a closer look at some carriers, who is leading and what we can expect going forward.
As an Industry Analyst, I have advised senior leadership at numerous competitors for several decades in the wireless, telecom, broadband and AI industries.
Based on what I see and hear from senior management, we should expect a major transitional shift from every player, the entire industry and in fact, every industry.
One important question is which will find the right CEO for the AI job going forward?
New T-Mobile US CEO is Srini Gopalan
Today, while T-Mobile is still strong, traditional wireless growth industrywide seems to be slowing.
After CEO John Legere started the growth cycle, he handed it down to CEO Mike Sievert as their next leader.
However, wireless growth going forward with AI seems to be on a new and different track.
That’s part of the reason T-Mobile just announced their next CEO Srini Gopalan. He has a new challenge. He must find new ways to fire up the growth engines.
Will Gopalan be successful in this new environment, and will T-Mobile remain a strong competitor?
New Verizon CEO is Dan Schulman
Verizon remains the largest player. While that is good, they have not shown rapid and strong growth for quite a while.
Years ago, under CEO Ivan Seidenberg, they grew and led, but since that point, there has been little to get excited about.
Today, they need to break out and show growth. They need to do something big and bold, or they will get lost in the noise of change and AI.
Under the newly announced CEO, Dan Schulman has a chance to change and accelerate their growth trajectory.
I have watched him through his career in leadership at companies like Virgin Mobile under Richard Branson, American Express and PayPay. He has been successful at growing each in different ways.
Will he be successful at Verizon? Will he turn the company growth engines on once again?
What about AT&T CEO John Stankey?
AT&T also needs to show real, long-term growth once again. The obvious question is how will they fire up strong growth once again?
John Stankey jumped in as CEO, changing the wrong path they were on a few short years ago. I believe he saved the company by stabilizing it.
While this is good news, growth still needs to be accelerated.
The question is, can the man who slowed then stopped the losses and put the company on the right direction, be the same man who can help it grow going forward with AI?
AI is next stage in growth curve of telecom, wireless, and broadband
Telecommunications and wireless have started a new wave of change and growth. We should expect some CEOs to hit the bullseye. Others will miss.
While it is too early to say which changes will work best, these are just some of the questions we do not have answers for yet.
While these are all serious questions, the next growth wave is said to come from Artificial Intelligence.
How does a Board of Directors find the right next CEO with AI skills to grow the company?
AI is potentially a big growth engine for the telecommunications and wireless industry. While this may be true, the timeline is the next question.
There are a few different directions this space will take including, will growth continue, or is there an AI bubble and will it burst? And if the bubble does burst, will damage be long-term or just temporary?
How AI will transform wireless, telecom, FWA, and broadband
Different CEOs who are the right one at one point, may not be at another. Are these three CEOs the right ones to run these ships during what will likely be a massive transformational AI shift?
This time, I do not expect all players to take the same route. That means some will perform better than others. It all depends on their strategy and the entire wireless, telecom and AI industry.
We are entering a new growth phase for the next decade and beyond. Who will be the real leaders going forward and why?
Part of this story is about remaining competitive. Another part is the focus on new profit centers and additional services.
How quickly will AI transform companies and industries?
The telecommunications industry has undergone a series of waves of growth and change over decades. The last major shift was the iPhone and Android and app market nearly twenty years ago.
Today, as we enter this new world driven by AI, there are so many questions.
Change is good. Growth is good. However, during the past decade or two we have seen a slowdown and wrong directions in both.
Some companies will succeed with AI, but not all at the same level
Based on what we see today, I believe going forward, some companies will perform better than others. Today, all three-offer excellent quality, reach and speed.
The question every exec is asking today, is the same question every customer and investor should be asking.
Who will lead in each category and who will follow? And will AI show robust growth going forward, or will the bubble burst creating a pause like we saw with the Internet around the year 2000.
Let’s stay tuned and watch how they perform going forward.
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