Vicki Brady: The Woman Steering Telstra into a New Digital Era
The name of Vicki Brady, the first woman CEO of Telstra is quickly becoming a synonym of change, overcoming and IT aspirations in Australian business. Having been hired as the head of the single biggest telecommunications company in the country in September 2022, Brady has already made a mark in the sector. Her leadership is as ambitious as it is highly monitored when it comes to key AI initiatives and contentious network statements, confrontational layoffs, and the powers that be in boardrooms.
The path to the top at Telstra that Brady went through was not a chance event but a combination of good education, company experience, and the view to the future that is currently leading the company through one of its most important digital transformations.
From Canberra to Corporate Leadership
Vicki Brady was brought up and grew up in Canberra which was not a place of boardrooms but bureaucracy. She received a Bachelor of commerce degree at Australian National University, and an MSc program in management at Stanford Business School at Stanford Graduate School that is known to have created world leaders in the field of technologies. Her business experience consisted of key positions in Optus, SingTel and KPMG, and Telstra is a company with whom she joined in 2016.
Brady is a fast paced executive at Telstra. She was the Group Executive in charge of Strategy and Finance and earlier, the Chief Financial Officer; she then moved to become CEO in 2022. The diversity of her experience that spans financial management, consumer strategy and enterprise sales provided this current rich 360 degree perspective about the telecom business.
Driving AI and Digital Transformation
Telstra embarking on an aggressive program of artificial intelligence and data infrastructure has been the most audacious step under Brady and may, in fact, represent the start to renewed success. In 2025 Telstra became a part of a joint venture worth 700 million dollars with Accenture to speed up the implementation of AI in Telstra networks and services. With this statement, Brady was very clear that Australia needed to play a leading role in implementing AI rather than developing it.
But such a position led to controversy. Her role in stating that Australia did not need to create its own large language models (LLMs) was negatively received by some industry analysts who pointed out that national digital sovereignty should be about the creation of its own AI. However, Brady did not waver in his argument that functionality and implementation to services are more crucial as compared to copying what has been done.
Controversy Around Coverage Claims
In 2024 Telstra was criticized by competitors and regulators by being accused of exaggerating its coverage on mobile network. Telstra stated that it covered more than 3 million square kilometers with service with no external antennas even though both Vodafone and TPG have refuted these claims.
The Australian Communications and Consumer Commission (ACCC) started inquiring into the marketing of Telstra. In response to this, Brady responded by justifying the evidence on internal test and industry good practice. She argued during such a media gathering, that it is only their standard of working that had always been high hence it is not any different.
Though the regulatory review decision is still awaiting, Brady stated that her defence focuses on the fact that her position in Telstra gave her much interest in its dominance even in the face of public scrutiny.
Tough Choices on Cost and Workforce
Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made and Brady has not been afraid to make them in leadership. She declared a big restructuring plan in the middle of the year 2024, encompassing 2,800 jobs removed, or almost 9 percent of the workforce. This was in line with an overall strategy of simplifying operations and future protection of the firm.
This step was announced which aroused anti-workerism sentiment among the employee groups and unions. Nevertheless, Brady has underlined the fact that the changes had to happen in order to sustain the competitive advantage of Telstra in the industry that is always under the pressure of technological changes. She assured that the customers were not going to be negatively affected in their service and that she would retain affected personnel.
Championing Women in Tech
Being the first female who heads Telstra, Brady is one mark of gender differences in the Australian technology industry. Her success can be taken as an example of how hard work can pay off even in a male-dominated industry, and that is why, she often speaks on the need of a more inclusive corporate culture.
Through the example set by Brady, a new group of women has been empowered and motivated to work in STEM and executive organizations. She takes part actively in talking and speaking at the events about the role of breaking the barriers, shared family and professional ambition, and investing in movies to cover the digital divide in gender-related issues.
National Influence Beyond Telstra
As of 2025, Vicki Brady was an appointee to the board of the Business Council of Australia (BCA), a platform where she is currently involved in making difference in terms of economic and innovation policy in the country. She was named with other tech visionaries sharing a more significant paradigm change of the BCA in addressing digital transformation and sustainability.
The position of the Telstra CEO and BCA board member places Brady at the center stage of calls made to determine how Australia is going to use AI, deploy 5G, and build out the broadband infrastructure. She also has a responsibility in sustainability, which she has personally championed Telstra philosophy of business to be carbon neutral and dedicated to green tech.
Looking Ahead
With Telstra gaining momentum on its strategy to transform to be a digital services leader, Brady is still under the spotlight in terms of innovation, good customer experience and connectivity in the country. She is still investing in local coverage, cybersecurity and 5G improvements as well as investigating strategic acquisitions within the digital services.
Nevertheless, regardless of the critics and issues, Brady has injected a certain urgency and modernity to the leadership in Telstra. The quality to both be ambitious and be accountable is probably what will end up defining her.
Conclusion
Vicki Brady is no ordinary CEO of a company, she is an epitome of an idea how the present-day leadership can influence the national agendas. Under her leadership Telstra is not only re-learning to deal with the digital age but they are shaping it in Australia. Brilliant moves, staunch beliefs and a brilliant sense of strategy have seen Brady find himself even greater avenues yet, and his legacy is going to affect society in years to come.
