- COO Srini Gopalan will take the chief executive reins from current CEO Mike Sievert on November 1
- Gopalan has been talking a lot about an AI-driven, “digital first” strategy
- A document leaked on Reddit suggests the transformation to digital may come sooner than anyone imagined – with the T-Life app at the center of it all
We thought this was going to be a story about how T-Mobile’s CEO succession plans weren’t nearly as dramatic as the “Succession” TV series.
That’s not quite how it’s unfolding. T-Mobile confirmed this week that Srini Gopalan will take the CEO reins from Mike Sievert on November 1. That was expected and, therefore, low on the drama scale.
But then we saw Gopalan, 55, and Sievert, 56, make the media rounds. Gopalan talks a lot about T-Mobile’s “digital first” strategy, one on which he intends to double down.
This is where it starts to get more dramatic. Asked on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” what exactly that Gopalan means when he says T-Mobile has “the best” digital skills, Gopalan mentioned that T-Life, which has seen more than 75 million downloads, makes the process of switching to T-Mobile a lot easier. And T-Mobile likes a heavy switching environment.
But broadly speaking, the process of switching carriers is really hard, he said. (Note from the peanut gallery: We think, through the magic of technology, that switching carriers should be as quick and easy as pie. But that’s another story.)
“You’ve got to take a ton of time out on a weekend. You’ve got to get your 17-year-old and your 19-year-old into the store. It can be a really tough process,” Gopalan explained. “Now, think about taking the best of digital skills and AI and actually making a process like that significantly easier. What we’re trying to do is bring the best of tech to make it incredibly easy for customers.”
Well, if by “significantly easier,” he wants to funnel most customer care activities through the T-Life app, that could be a problem for customers who aren’t thrilled about a “digital first” approach.
A leaked document on Reddit makes it look as though T-Mobile plans to make customers use the T-Life app to do practically everything. Various outlets reported how the document, shared by a disgruntled salesperson, shows nearly 100% of major customer service activities will be handled through the T-Life app by the end of 2026.
Is the doc legit, and is this T-Mobile’s plan? Fierce asked T-Mobile these questions.
Here’s what they said. "This document is simply a progress report we share with our teams on our journey to make T-Life a truly first-class digital experience for customers. For customers who need our assistance and expertise, our best-in-the-industry teams will absolutely be available to support them in our own stores and call centers to ensure they receive an exceptional experience, however they choose to interact with us,” according to a T-Mobile spokesperson.
During T-Mobile’s Capital Markets Day last year, executives spent a lot of time talking about T-Life and how it can save a lot of time when customers are, for example, doing device upgrades. T-Mobile Consumer Group President Jon Freier said they do see a world where they’re going to have fewer stores, but they’ll be better staffed with more knowledgeable people.
Jeff Moore, principal at Wave7 Research, told Fierce there's been some rationalization of the store count in recent years as T-Mobile has closed some stores where legacy T-Mobile and legacy Sprint stores were in close proximity.
However, “we have seen multiple moves from T-Mobile in recent years to increase interactions of its reps with customers,” Moore said. “There is much more to do at a carrier store than do activations and pay bills. Stores are a showcase for phones, accessories and internet access. Reps can dispense knowledge and build customer relationships.”
New CEO known for his financial prowess
As for other expectations under Gopalan’s tenure, analysts say he’s really good at financial stuff, so … buy T-Mobile stock now? Yes? No? Maybe! We’re not investment experts, so don’t take our word for it.
“He will drive a lot of financial efficiency and performance,” said Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, noting that’s what Gopalan did when he ran Deutsche Telekom’s German operations.
“If you thought that T-Mobile was very profitable today, come back in a year or two and you should see a marked improvement,” Entner told Fierce.
Industry analyst Chetan Sharma, who hosted a fireside chat with Sievert during his Mobile Future Forward event in Seattle earlier this month, called Gopalan an “operations mastermind.”
“He is one of the rare execs who have been in leadership position across three varied geographies so he brings an amazing global perspective to his role at T-Mobile,” Sharma said.
Roy Chua, principal of AvidThink, said he doesn’t know if Gopalan will increase the "un-carrier" vibe at T-Mobile. But the company likely will continue to forge partnerships and roll out creative bundles for both consumers and enterprise, similar to the recent introduction of SuperMobile that’s aimed at businesses.
“One of the critical areas is to increase monetization of their leading 5G network in the U.S. before AT&T starts pushing back using their recently acquired spectrum from EchoStar,” Chua said. “I expect Srini will encourage more advanced services that leverage network virtualization and slicing, as well as an increased presence in the enterprise line of business with connectivity services that go beyond selling corporate liable lines.”
“There's a lot more that T-Mobile can do on the business side and the recent shakeup of the corporate structure and the insertion of André Almeida [as president of Growth and Emerging Businesses] likely signals more efforts in the enterprise market and add-on services,” Chua added.
T-Mobile: Time is right
All week, Sievert has emphasized that he wanted his successor to take over while T-Mobile is on top.
“You don’t wait until two or three years after the person’s run out of energy and they’ve put all their best ideas on the table,” Sievert said on CNBC. “You pick your moment when the next logical successor with the vision for the future is ready to go and hopefully you do it at a time of unbelievable success, like we’re experiencing right now.”
So, the time is right, according to T-Mobile. As for T-Mobile’s biggest rivals, there doesn't appear to be any urgency for either Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg or AT&T Chairman and CEO John Stankey to leave their respective positions.
“Both of them are solidly in command. Their boards love them. They will leave when they want to leave,” Entner said.
Article updated with additional commentary.