Abdu Mudesir to become Verizon’s top tech exec

• Abdu Mudesir abruptly left Deutsche Telekom, where he was head of product and technology, in late March
• Now we know why he left DT so suddenly
• Mudesir is set to succeed Joe Russo as Verizon’s president of global networks and technology 
• Verizon is, of course, one of the main rivals to DT’s US operation, T-Mobile US

In a startling move that will raise many eyebrows, Abdu Mudesir, who abruptly stepped down as head of technology and product at Deutsche Telekom in March this year, is to join Verizon as president of global networks and technology, replacing the incumbent Joe Russo when he retires in the coming months, Handelsblatt has reported. 

The move pitches Mudesir in direct competition with T-Mobile US, the highly successful North American arm of the Deutsche Telekom empire that is so important to the German telco giant. 

Mudesir had been at Deutsche Telekom for eight years and had risen through the ranks to take on the highest technology role at the giant influential telco in May 2025.

His departure was unexpected and sudden, leading to speculation that he might be moving to one of the emerging AI infrastructure giants in the Middle East.

But sources told Handelsblatt that Mudesir was heading for Verizon and, following the German newspaper’s enquiries, Verizon CEO Dan Schulman sent an internal memo (seen by Handelsblatt) to the US operator’s staff informing them that Mudesir would succeed Russo as head of networks and technology and praising Mudesir as an executive with “great imagination”. 

TelecomTV has requested confirmation of the appointment from Verizon.

The move comes only months after Verizon made key changes to its senior technology and networking team – see Verizon shakes up its tech team.

The exact timing of Mudesir’s appointment is unclear, but Russo is expected to remain in his current post until the beginning of next year to oversee the transition. 

Mudesir will join Verizon at a time when the US operator will be making many key decisions about the use of AI (including autonomous network operations and AI-RAN), 6G, quantum-safe communications and more. 

Mudesir talked with TelecomTV only weeks before he left Deutsche Telekom, when he discussed AI-native telco strategies, direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications, a post-quantum world and much more. 

In the meantime, Russo and his team, including former Vodafone executive Yago Tenorio, who joined Verizon as CTO in late 2024 after 30 years at Vodafone, have the not inconsiderable task of supporting the upcoming football (aka soccer) World Cup in Verizon’s role as FIFA’s ‘Official Telecommunication Services Sponsor’ for the 2026 event, which is being held in the US, Canada and Mexico, kicks off on 11 June and runs until 19 July… Mudesir will be among those hoping the telco doesn’t score a cellular service own goal during the tournament’s duration. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV