"A cup with..." Dominique Leroy

The holy grail for telco is finding the next services where we can be relevant for customers beyond connectivity and entertainment. It's a good question because there is scarcity in the digital market.

The first big surprise was COVID. I started in November 2020 in the middle of the pandemic, so I had to onboard virtually for 10 countries. That was a huge challenge. Also, it was my first headquarters role; I had always been operational. Driving businesses across 10 countries required a different approach—engaging with the HQ team and CEOs, finding a common vision, and driving growth together. It was a big change, but so far so good.

That comes from my time at Unilever, a consumer goods company where it's all about winning customers every time they shop. In telco, I was surprised that people focused on technology for its own sake, not measuring network or service from a customer perspective. We introduced Voice of the Customer tools like Medallia to measure satisfaction across every interaction—in shops, with technicians, digitally. This helps us improve and focus on customers. In the end, success comes from happy customers who love your brand. That's why I'm so customer-focused.

We've done well at making customers more prominent, giving more focus to frontline people, and using feedback to improve operationally. We've launched new services for businesses and consumers. But the holy grail is finding the next services that bring us beyond connectivity and entertainment—to be relevant in people's daily lives and engage with them positively. Currently, connectivity is often seen as a commodity; we need to build a more constructive relationship.

Europe can be a test market because we have 10 countries with different contexts. We can test digital solutions quickly and scale them. We build platforms from a multi-country perspective, like the Magenta app, which was designed for multiple countries from the start and later scaled to Germany. For technology platforms, Germany can provide scale first, then bring them to Europe. But for customer-centric platforms, starting small in Europe and learning by doing is effective. This approach works for tools like Medallia, where we pilot in one or two countries and then scale.

We can definitely learn from each other. The US market is different—only a few players for 300 million people, giving scale. T-Mobile US is known for its 'uncarrier' thinking, which disrupts incumbents like us. We can learn to be more disruptive and customer-centric. I visited their call center and saw enthusiastic teams proud to help customers. That 'go the extra mile' mentality is stronger in the US than in Europe. On digital platforms, we have strengths that could benefit the US. Leveraging the US together with Germany and Europe toward big OTT players is something we should do more.

It's a tough question because digital talent is scarce. First, being successful attracts the best talent. Second, our brand stands for something—the magenta color, diversity, inclusion, and making a difference in society. We have goals like CO2 neutrality and digital inclusion programs. Young people want to work for a company with values. We also train people and reskill existing employees. We need to speak out, go to schools, and train young people. I'm confident we'll remain an attractive employer.

Thank you, Thomas. It was a pleasure. See you next time as well.