Verizon's chief network officer for core engineering and operations, Adam Koeppe, will leave the operator at the end of this year, becoming the third senior technology executive to depart since Dan Schulman took over as CEO in October 2024.

Koeppe announced the move on LinkedIn, writing that "it's time to move on to the next chapter" after a 26-year career at the company. He gave no indication of his next role.

"While there is a quiet satisfaction in closing this chapter, I am equally excited for what lies ahead," he wrote. "My confidence in Verizon's future remains high."

He described his career building and operating Verizon's networks as "an extraordinary and humbling journey."

A short run in a new role

The departure is notable for its timing. Verizon appointed Koeppe to his current post in December 2025, less than a year before his exit, as part of a reorganization that combined core engineering and operations under a mandate of "network excellence."

That reorganization created a trio of chief network officers during mass layoffs affecting more than 13,000 employees:

• Koeppe took core engineering and operations.
• Srini Kalapala became senior VP for wireless networks.
• Lynn Cox became senior VP for fiber networks.

Koeppe joined the company in 2000, having started his career in 1994 as a customer service representative at Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile. He led technology strategy, architecture and planning as senior VP until the end of 2025.

What does this change for Verizon's network organization?

In practice, Koeppe leaves before his ultimate boss's successor arrives. Joe Russo, executive VP and president of global networks and technology, retires in the first quarter of next year after 30 years at Verizon. Abdu Mudesir, who abruptly left his role as head of product and technology at Deutsche Telekom in March, will replace him and take responsibility for networks, platforms and technology.

Mudesir joins CTO Yago Tenorio, who made the same trans-Atlantic move from Vodafone to Verizon in October 2024.

Schulman, in his June letter to employees, called Mudesir "a recognized pioneer in Open RAN, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven network automation; technologies that are critical to our next chapter of growth."

The exits extend beyond the technology team. Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath resigned at the end of March and became CEO of Zayo, starting that role last month.

A generational shift, not a crisis

Roger Entner, founder and analyst at Recon Analytics, reads the departures as a "generational shift" at a company "in transition" under Schulman rather than a sign of instability.

The departing executives are "at the right age to retire," he said, though that does not mean "sitting in a rocking chair and watching the sunset."

Koeppe himself pointed to the bench behind him. In his LinkedIn post he praised Verizon's Leadership Development Program, an internal training initiative with 300 participants over the last ten years that prepares "emerging talent" for senior roles.

"I will be enthusiastically rooting for the V–Team (especially all our Leadership Development Program team members)," he said.

After a year of layoffs and executive churn, the overhaul of Verizon's technology leadership will continue into next year, with Mudesir's arrival and Russo's retirement both due in the first quarter.