Verizon’s job-slashing operational transformation received an overseer as newly installed CEO Dan Schulman named former PayPal colleague Alfonso Villanueva EVP and Chief Transformation Officer.

Villanueva is scheduled to take that position November 20, having most recently headed up technology investment firm Albar Court Ventures. While at PayPal, Villanueva served as EVP of strategy, corporate development, and data science.

“He helped shape PayPal’s strategic roadmap, led its M&A activities, expanded its data and analytics capabilities, and oversaw venture investments,” Schulman noted in a “letter” tied to the hiring. “Alfonso also led the office of the CEO, driving key initiatives that accelerated the company’s growth and transformation. He is a strong leader with deep expertise and an extraordinary colleague.”

Schulman pointed to “AI, automation, and digital acceleration” as key tenants for Verizon’s planned turnaround, reiterating comments made during the carrier’s most recent earnings call. That focus will run through Villanueva, who will head “key functions … on developing our digital infrastructure and expanding the capabilities we need to delight customers and lead the industry.”

“Our new Transformation Organization will be responsible for driving the change we need to execute against our strategic priorities, and scaling the innovation, technologies, and investments that will define the next chapter of Verizon’s growth,” Schulman wrote.

That organization will include Chris Bartlett as head of the strategy, corporate development, and partnership team. Bartlett has been at Verizon for more than seven years, most recently serving as chief strategy officer.

Mano Mannoochahr will lead the organization’s data, analytics, and AI team. Mannoochahr has been with Verizon for nine months serving as chief of those topics within the carrier.

Jim Gowen will head up the organization’s supply chain, sourcing, and sustainability team. Gowen has been with Verizon for nearly 24 years, most recently serving as SVP of global supply chain and chief sustainability officer.

“Alfonso and his team will help us see beyond where we are today and build the next wave of opportunities into lasting competitive advantage,” Schulman concluded on the move.
“This is about taking bold action – transforming our company to focus on creating value for our customers and shareholders, maximizing the impact of our resources and capabilities, and leading our industry forward.”

The new organization was unveiled as reports swirled of Verizon planning to slash up to 15,000 jobs, or roughly 15% of its workforce.

Schulman’s mandate

Schulman’s shake up comes just over a month after he was tapped to replace long-time CEO Hans Vestberg, who was abruptly fired after seven years on the top chair. Schulman had been serving on Verizon’s board and had previously headed up PayPal and former mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Virgin Mobile USA.

“I believe in Verizon and its future, and I am honored to be chosen to serve as CEO,” Schulman said at that time. “Verizon is at a critical juncture. We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory, by growing our market share across all segments of the market, while delivering meaningful growth in our key financial metrics. We are going to maximize our value propositions, reduce our cost to serve, and optimize our capital allocation to delight our customers, and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders."

Schulman later provided a few clues to those plans as he presided over his first earnings call as CEO.

“We are going to take bold and fiscally responsible action to redefine Verizon’s trajectory at this critical inflection point for our company,” Schulman noted in a statement tied to the earnings release. “We will rapidly shift to a customer-first culture, one that thrives on delighting our customers. These will not be incremental changes. We will aggressively transform our culture, our cost structure, and the financial profile of Verizon in order to put our customers first, compete effectively, and deliver sustainable returns for our shareholders.”

Schulman added that this included a bigger focus on using AI to power his plans in overhauling Verizon’s operations.

“We have barely scratched the surface of how AI powered innovation can transform our customer experience,” Schulman said during his prepared remarks. “I intend to use AI as a key tool simplify offers, improve the customer experience, and reduce churn through smart, consistent, and more personalized marketing and offers, and we will leverage AI throughout the company to make it easier for our employees to delight our customers and to dramatically improve service while reducing costs.”

However, Schulman’s AI enthusiasm was quickly countered by his stating that there would also be parts of the Verizon business that could be cut.

“We have parts of our business that are costing us billions of dollars of margin and I think we can think much more clearly about how do we invest in growth areas and divest or exit those that are not that for us and are actually hemorrhaging margins for us,” Schulman said, before adding ominously, “you can probably imagine what we're thinking about and talking about on that.”