AT&T Communications named Jeff McElfresh as a replacement for CEO John Donovan who recently announced plans to retire effective Oct. 1. McElfresh, who currently serves as president of AT&T Communications’ Technology and Operations group, will assume the leadership position of AT&T’s largest business unit next month.

The 48-year-old executive has nearly 25 years of experience at AT&T in a variety of roles. McElfresh previously served as CEO of AT&T’s Vrio, the Latin American branch of DirecTV, and president of AT&T Mexico.

When McElfresh takes over AT&T Communications next month he will also be reporting to a new position created within the company’s executive ranks. John Stankey, CEO of WarnerMedia, has been appointed to president and COO of AT&T effective Oct. 1. McElfresh and Xandr CEO Brian Lasser will now report directly to Stankey, who will also continue to lead WarnerMedia.

The dual promotions will bolster AT&T’s executive team and likely keep its current business leaders in place for years to come. Roger Entner, founder and lead analyst at Recon Analytics, noted that because AT&T didn’t announce a successor for Donovan at the time of his retirement announcement, he is most likely leaving on his own terms. 

Entner also correctly predicted that McElfresh was in the running to replace Donovan. Entner said that other potential candidates included: Lori Lee, CEO of AT&T Latin American and global marketing officer; Thaddeus Orroyo, CEO of AT&T Business; Rasesh Patel, senior executive vice president at AT&T Communications; and David Christopher, president of AT&T Mobility and Entertainment.

The internal executive moves also means that the demographics of AT&T’s leadership team will remain largely white and male.

Like Donovan, McElfresh has a pedigree in SDN and that probably placed him in a lead position for the role as AT&T continues to polish its cloud strategy amid its nationwide 5G deployment efforts. On his LinkedIn page, McElfresh describes himself as “responsible for AT&T’s transition to a software-defined and future 5G network.” The operator’s burgeoning 5G network is now live in parts of 21 cities and the company says it’s on track to have “nationwide” 5G coverage during the first half of 2020.

In a prepared statement, AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said the dual moves were designed to more tightly align the company’s content, consumer, technology, and advertising businesses. “It’s the natural next step in bringing together the distinct and complementary capabilities of AT&T Communications, WarnerMedia, and Xandr to deliver for consumers the benefits of a modern media company,” he said.

Stephenson described Stankey as "an outstanding executive who has led nearly every area of our business" and McElfresh as "an accomplished leader with experience across our business — from strategy, technology, and network, to marketing, operations, and customer experience."