Anne Chow has consistently been recognised as a role model for leadership and success across the telco industry.
Her dedication to business technology for more than 30 years sees her honoured as a successful leader who successfully works at the intersection of people, culture and technology.
She worked at leading telecommunications company AT&T for 32 years, during which time she held 17 different roles across product management, strategy and planning, customer service and international operations.
In September 2019, Anne was appointed CEO of AT&T Business, making her the first woman of colour CEO in AT&T’s 140+ year history. During her time at AT&T Business, she managed more than 35,000 employees who serve three million business customers worldwide.
The foundation of leadership
As a proud second-generation American, Anne was born to Taiwanese parents who emigrated to the United States in the 1960s. She was raised modestly in New Jersey and carries key lessons from her childhood with her, as they continue to shape the foundation of her leadership.
She followed in her father’s footsteps and studied for a degree in Electrical Engineering. From Cornell University, she earned a Bachelor of Science and Masters in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration with Distinction from The Johnson School.
It was these experiences that nurtured her early interest in how people and technology come together.
On her LinkedIn Anne says: “I believe that ideas, invention and innovation thrive at the intersection of technology and people. Fortunately, most of my career has been spent expanding and enhancing this intersection.”
From here, she started working at AT&T as a network engineer in 1990. She quickly and successfully grew her career across a range of jobs before becoming the first woman and woman of colour CEO of AT&T Business in 2019, a role she held until 2022.
Anne led her team through global market upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to serve AT&T customers with communications across small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), global multinational enterprises in the Fortune 1000 and the public sector. She was responsible for numerous AT&T transformations across a range of key industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, energy and logistics.
She has also been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including being named Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business twice, Forbes’ inaugural CEO Next List of Leaders set to revolutionise American business and Light Reading’s Most Inspiring Women in Communications.
Leading the intersection of people and technology
What sets Anne apart is her continued eagerness to learn. Extremely committed to inspiration and sustainable impact, she refers to this chapter of her career as ‘rewirement’ - highlighting her passion for engaging with current and future leaders.
She now uses her unique insights to power connection with a forward-thinking lens, emphasising the importance of sustainable agile growth for businesses.
Anne is also famed for her intelligent approach to solutions, as she harnesses advanced connectivity with customer experience at the forefront of her mind. At AT&T, she became well-known for her unique leadership style, prioritising people and culture - an approach to growth ahead of its time.
More recently, Anne has advised businesses across the industry and campaigns heavily for gender equity. She currently sits on the board of technology-led companies, including CSX, 3M and FranklinCovey.
She champions several DEI and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and has created programmes at AT&T that still exist today, including the AT&T Women of Business, AT&T’s Asia Pacific Women’s Organisation and AT&T’s Women of Color Imperative.
Speaking in an interview in 2021, Anne said: “If the leadership of any organisation is not committed to change or DEI, ultimately they cannot be successful.”
Anne maintains her passion for championing women in STEM, next-generation leaders and the importance of education across the telecommunications sector.
“As a country, we are experiencing an awakening - and in many ways, a reckoning,” Anne highlighted at an AT&T gala in 2021. “What has become abundantly clear is that we are all connected. In fact, one of the biggest revelations of the pandemic is that there is nothing more important than the power of the human connection.”
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