Verizon, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, operates in more than 150 countries and serves over 143 million subscribers in the U.S. alone. With a stronghold in network infrastructure, 5G rollout, and enterprise connectivity, Verizon is increasingly leaning into AI to enhance customer experience, optimize operations, and future-proof its business.

In this first part of a three-part executive series, Mano Mannoochahr, Chief Data Analytics and AI Officer at Verizon, joins Jeff Burlin, Senior Director of Executive Engagement Programs at Twilio, to unpack the evolving role of data and AI leadership, the architecture behind Verizon’s AI strategy, and how applied AI is transforming both customer and employee experiences.

The Evolution of the CDAO Role

Mannoochahr reflects on the dramatic shift in the role of CDAOs over the last 15 years. He explains that this initial phase focused heavily on compliance and data governance, followed by a second wave that brought analytics and reporting into the spotlight.

The third and current phase, as Mannoochahr sees it, is all about innovation. Today’s CDAOs need to understand AI deeply, engage directly with business stakeholders, and drive transformation. 

“It has completely turned around 90 degrees, from being very governance-oriented to now leading a lot of the transformation and innovation inside of most large companies.”

A career shaped by curiosity and timing

Moving forward, Mannoochahr credits his career trajectory to a combination of “luck, timing, and a bit of passion.” He traces his early roots in the field back to 1993, when he began his master’s studies in machine learning.

At that time, there were limited opportunities to apply what he had learned. It was not until his tenure at John Deere that he developed a deep understanding of the data space, shares Mannoochahr. “We had launched an IoT-enabled set of products and just got overwhelmed with data.” That experience helped build his analytics muscle.

Looking back, he acknowledges that the journey only makes sense in hindsight. “You can never connect the dots looking forward. You can only do them in the rearview mirror. If I look back, there were a lot of connections, one thing led to another, and here we are.”

Mannoochahr adds, “One of the things maybe underpinning this all is the curiosity and desire to learn and continue to evolve.”

Staying ahead in a rapidly changing world

To keep pace with the rapidly evolving AI landscape, he has developed a personal learning ecosystem. He follows a daily-to-monthly rhythm: bite-sized updates through Google News, Medium, and Substack; weekly doses of thought leadership through podcasts; and deeper learning through books and research during his monthly cycles.

Verizon’s 3-pillar AI strategy

When asked how Verizon is transforming business with AI, Mannoochahr lays out an organizational AI roadmap, which is anchored in three strategic pillars:

1. Applied AI: This pillar focuses on practical use cases that enhance both employee productivity and customer experiences. “It’s all about enhancing our customer experience, driving efficiencies, personalization, and overall just optimizing our capital investments.”
2. AI-powered products and solutions: The second pillar centers around embedding AI into Verizon’s offerings — enabling smarter devices, more personalized services, and greater automation. “Whether that’s infusing AI into our product offering and service offerings or building more and more device intelligence.”
3. AI connect: This is Verizon’s commitment to supporting the broader AI ecosystem. It involves expanding bandwidth capabilities, collaborating with hyperscalers, and preparing infrastructure for edge computing.

Double-clicking on applied AI, Mannoochahr emphasizes that it is not only about long-term transformation but also about immediate operational impact. He explains that this transformation is deeply tied to reshaping how work gets done. The focus is to make employees efficient and productive while driving better customer outcomes.

As AI matures, Mannoochahr notes that its role is expanding beyond transformation into everyday business optimization. “It’s not just about transformation, but think about the day-to-day running of the business and how we optimize.” He links this to a data analytics maturity journey — “moving from basic to diagnostic reporting and predictive AI,” and accelerating the “time to insight.”

This dual focus, Mannoochahr says, creates opportunities both in the short term — “deliver industry-leading performance from a business outcomes perspective”— and in the long term, where the goal is to “transform and reimagine current business and processes.”

AI in action: Reimagining the customer journey

Delving further, Mannoochahr illustrates AI’s impact in customer service with a live use case: “As soon as you place a call, we know who you are and we have models trying to predict why you might be calling.”

Verizon’s AI models do not stop at identification; they go further to match customers with the right agents and guide those agents in real time. “We’ve got multiple models listening and advising our customer service rep. ‘Here’s the next best action.’”

The goal is not just efficiency but empathy. “We’re trying to figure out how to make every frontline transaction AI-infused and make it a more pleasant experience for our customers as well as our employees.”

CDO Magazine appreciates Mano Mannoochahr for sharing his insights with our global community.