Telstra and its CEO of seven years Andy Penn is stepping down, with CFO Vicki Brady to take the role as of September 1.
Brady is following the same path as Penn, who first joined Telstra as CFO in 2012 and was elevated to CEO in 2015.
Penn’s tenure as CEO coincided with the existential challenge of losing the bulk of Telstra’s fixed line business to NBN Co, turning the incumbent into a reseller of broadband services, while at the same time rolling out 4G services and charting the migration to 5G.
In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Telstra chair John Mullen singled out Penn’s management of the T22 strategy as his major achievement, delivering a “transformed experience for customers, shareholders and employees”.
“During his tenure as CEO, Andy has championed a digital strategy anchored by a dedication to simplifying our goods and services.”
“He has also maintained our network leadership, most notably with our investment to lead on 5G.”
Mullen believes Brady has the experience to succeed Penn, having produced go-to-market plans as part of T22.
Brady has also “played a critical leadership role in the formulation of Telstra’s T25 strategy and is well-positioned to lead the firm into its next phase,” according to Mullen.
“She is uniquely suited to take up the post and execute on our T25 promises.”
Brady joined Telstra in 2016 as a group executive, consumer and small business, before taking over as CFO in 2019.
She began her career with KPMG and has since worked for Optus and SingTel.
Brady has a bachelor’s degree in business from Australian National University and a master’s degree in management from Stanford.
