Verizon Business Names New Leader As Tami Erwin Set To Depart At Year’s End

The telecom giant has tapped Verizon’ current CRO to lead Verizon Business when Tami Erwin steps down at the end of 2022.

Verizon Business CEO Tami Erwin is stepping down at the end of 2022 and taking the helm will be Sowmyanarayan Sampath, the carrier giant said Monday.

Erwin (pictured) has spent 35 years with Verizon. The longtime telecom veteran revealed in May on LinkedIn that she planned to leave by year’s end. Erwin has spent the past three years as executive vice president and CEO of Verizon Business.

Sampath has served as Verizon’s CRO since April 2021. In his new role as Verizon Business CEO, Sampath will report directly to Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg.

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Erwin during her tenure with Verizon has held a variety of roles, having joined the carrier as a customer service representative. Since then, she’s worked her way up the ranks, serving in roles such as CMO, president of operations for consumer and mass business markets, and COO before taking the top seat as CEO.

“After 35 years with Verizon, including my time with AirTouch, and after much consideration, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to leave Verizon at the end of 2022,” Erwin wrote on LinkedIn in May. “Thank you to Hans Vestberg, who has been a true partner. As we look ahead to the rest of the year and crossing the finish line together, I remain as committed as ever to #gofightwin and capitalize on the incredible momentum this team has built. We’ve never had better assets in place to serve our customers.”

Sampath, for his part, has spent the past eight years at the telecom giant. Before his current role as CRO, he served as president of global enterprise for more than a year. Between 2018 and 2020 he served as CFO and group strategy and transformation for Verizon’s Media Group, which contained the company’s Yahoo and AOL assets.

Verizon’s Media Group, which struggled to gain traction, was sold for $5 billion to private equity firm Apollo Global Management in May 2021.