Amol Phadke steps down as CTO for ‘personal reasons’ as new CEO prepares to take the helm; Sweden’s CEO to leave at year end
Amol Phadke has stepped down from his role as Group CTO for ‘personal reasons’ according to a short statement by Telenor. It says, “Phadke is grateful for the opportunity he had to serve Telenor as well as the opportunity to work with Telenor’s leadership team.
“Phadke is thankful to the incoming CEO Benedicte for her guidance and advice during the CEO transition period. We would also like to thank Phadke for his significant contributions to Telenor in driving forward the Group Technology agenda around Cloud, AI, IT and open networks during his tenure.”
From 1 December, Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer will be President & CEO of the Telenor group as Sigve Brekke departs.
Brekke took up the reins at Telenor in 2015. Since then the group has outperformed the S&P European Telecommunications index by 50% on a dividend-adjusted basis. Telenor is the only operator with a solid footprint in all Nordic markets and has delivered 5% mobile service revenue growth in the Nordic region for six consecutive quarter at the time he announced he would leave, in May.
Kennedy steps in
Cathal Kennedy (pictured) is Acting Group CTO and “will continue to drive forward Telenor’s vision for being an AI First and Cloud First Telco going forward”.
Kennedy is a senior technology leader at Telenor Group, having joined the company in 2014. He currently serves as SVP Cloud and AI within the Telenor Group CTO office,
He has “a robust technology background”, including a stretch as Chief IT Architect for Telenor Group. Kennedy has “played pivotal roles”, such as overseeing IT across Nordic and European operations and spearheading “significant global transformation initiatives” within Telenor.
Phadke’s departure is hard on the heels of Yogesh Malik abruptly leaving his post as CTIO of Tele2 Group, which is also under new management.
New CEO for Sweden
Telenor Sweden’s CEO, Bjørn Ivar Moen, will leave his role at the end of the year. It is expected that his successor will be announced shortly, according to a press release.
Moen has led the company for three years and is returning to Norway. During his time in Sweden, he has contributed to improved performance and increased growth, the company, according to the statement.
Jon Omund Revhaug, acting head of Telenor Nordic, wrote, “Bjørn Ivar is an appreciated leader who will be missed”.