Telstra announced CEO Andrew Penn will retire after seven years at the helm of Australia’s largest mobile player by revenue and subscribers, with CFO Vicki Brady (pictured) to take over the role on 1 September.

Brady joined Telstra in 2016 as group executive for Consumer and Small Business and takes over as the operator shifts from its T22 transformation initiative introduced four years ago to the next phase of its turnaround programme, which involves additional cost and staff cuts.

In a statement, chairman John Mullen explained Brady developed Telstra’s go to market plans as part of the T22 strategy. “She played a key leadership role in the development of Telstra’s T25 strategy and is well placed to lead the company through its next phase.”

Penn (pictured, right) joined Telstra as CFO in 2012 and has been CEO since May 2015.

Mullen noted Penn would leave “a positive and enduring legacy” for the transformation he led during a period of significant change and will be known for “his courage in setting a bold ambition through the T22 strategy”.

At MWC Barcelona 2022 Andy Penn sat down with Mobile World Live to discuss Telstra’s strategy of quickly migrating users to its 5G network.