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AT&T CEO John Stankey told attendees at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit that he waited too long to confront the cultural shifts he believed the business needed to make.
He said he placed the need for “culture evolution” on a long list of priorities instead of elevating it early and driving specific actions to reinforce it.
His comments follow extensive discussion sparked by a memo, originally reported by Business Insider in August, which described AT&T’s move toward a “more market-based culture.”
The memo led to debate about how much loyalty employees could expect from their employer. During the summit conversation, WSJ Leadership Institute president Alan Murray suggested that Stankey’s delay may have explained why the communication surfaced only this year.
“The memo shouldn’t be over-rotated on. It’s one of a series of steps in trying to put a framework out there and remove excuses for leaders to lead,” Stankey said.
He told the audience that the document was designed to outline the thinking behind a broader leadership framework he wants applied consistently throughout the business.
“That memo outlined my point of view on it, and it gives leaders that want to lead all the air cover in the world they need to go and execute around that framework,” he said.
In the long email, which responded to a survey of nearly 100,000 employees, he said: "I understand that some of you may have started your tour with this company expecting an "employment deal" rooted in loyalty, tenure, and conformance with the associated compensation, work structure, and benefits. We have consciously shifted away from some of these elements and towards a more market-based culture — focused on rewarding capability, contribution, and commitment. We believe this is the only way to succeed in the dynamic, technologically driven markets where we operate. I know change like this is difficult and can be unsettling for some. However, as General Eric Shinseki so eloquently stated, "If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more."
AT&T presses ahead with RTO and cultural expectations
The memo was also notable for its blunt language, telling employees that those who did not want to align with the company’s direction could seek opportunities elsewhere. “If the requirements dictated by this dynamic do not align to your personal desires, you have every right to find a career opportunity that is suitable to your aspirations and needs,” he wrote.
AT&T has introduced several workplace changes over the past year, including a return-to-office requirement of five days a week. The company has framed the shifts as necessary to meet business demands and reinforce leadership accountability.
AI skills emerge as a new focus
Stankey also described the company’s push to accelerate employee capability in artificial intelligence. He said AT&T has created tutorials and educational resources to help employees gain experience with AI tools, adding that he is monitoring how employees engage with those materials.
“I want to see who’s building their skill set, where they’re building, and this is just the next set of skills that people are going to have to have,” he said.
The comments hint at how the company’s cultural priorities, return-to-office requirements and technology expectations intersect, as leaders press for faster adaptation within an organization that has undergone significant change.
Ms. Williams