Vicki Brady cut from different cloth to Telstra predecessor Andy Penn

Telstra’s Vicki Brady marked her first full-year results as chief executive without any of the tech superlatives of predecessor Andy Penn, emphasising instead the telco giant’s simple value proposition of its network leadership, for which its customers are still seemingly content to pay a pretty premium.

Brady, Telstra’s first female chief executive, took the top job last year after serving as chief financial officer under Penn, who had articulated a bold vision for Telstra to become a “world class technology company”, a goal the telco has now hung up on.

The well-respected Penn, who grappled with NBN headwinds and a plummeting share price, would often cite Netflix as an example of innovative DNA and skill sets that Telstra could do well to learn from, realising that customer loyalty is driven by seamless experiences. The executive was years ahead of the curve in articulating what AI could do to improve customer outcomes and in a 2016 speech, some seven years ago, labelled AI and machine learning as “perhaps the most significant driver of technology innovation”.

During his tenure Penn would annually show up in Las Vegas at the world’s largest gadget show, CES, to surround himself with the latest and greatest tech at the Wynn resort and casino.

Former Telstra CEO Andy Penn. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

One of Penn’s key hires was former Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop, who Penn tapped to realise his lofty tech ambitions. He opened innovation centres in Melbourne and Sydney, and worked to plug earnings holes by buying up dozens of technology companies through Telstra’s venture capital division. Many of those investments came to nothing, including an investment of more than $500m in tech start-up Ooyala, which Telstra eventually wrote down to a value of zero.

Penn’s penchant for all things tech has also followed him into life post-Telstra, with the executive now steering the formulation of Australia’s national cyber security strategy.

Penn’s leadership was well regarded across the telecommunications sector but in Brady, the company has a more circumspect chief who will need to chart the company through a period that’s looking even woollier and more unpredictable than the one faced by Penn.

A veteran of the telco industry who served as an Optus executive in the late 1990s, Brady represents a safe pair of hands for what is the most widely held ASX listed company.

In one of his final interviews as CEO, Penn had one piece of advice for Brady as she took over his T25 strategy.

“Trust your instincts.

“She needs to chart her own path, which I know she will.

“She is an incredibly capable executive. She knows the industry, she’s got great instincts, and so I would advise her to follow those and I know that she will.”