David Thodey became Telstra's Chief Executive Officer on 19 May 2009, announcing a strategy of market differentiation and a renewed focus on customer service and satisfaction.
David joined Telstra in April 2001 as Group Managing Director of Telstra Mobiles, overseeing significant industry change with the mass take up of mobiles and the introduction of digital technologies.
In December 2002, David was appointed Group Managing Director Telstra Enterprise and Government and was responsible for the company's large corporate, government and business customers in Australia, TelstraClear in New Zealand and Telstra's international sales division. At the helm of Telstra Enterprise and Government, David oversaw another period of significant industry change, with the rapid take up of IP and mobile broadband services over Telstra's Next IP and Next G™ networks.
Before joining Telstra, David was Chief Executive Officer of IBM Australia/New Zealand and previously held several senior executive positions in marketing and sales with IBM across the Asia Pacific. He originally started at IBM as a systems engineer and has retained a passion for technology throughout his career.
David was born in Perth and is currently the Chairman of Basketball Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and English from Victoria University in New Zealand. David attended the Kellogg Post-Graduate School General Management Program at Northwestern University in Chicago.
