Telstra has elevated Dayle Stevens to a newly created enterprise-wide AI leadership role, after three-and-a-half years spent overseeing the Data & AI function.

Stevens revealed the change over the weekend in a LinkedIn post, which iTnews has verified.

“My focus now shifts to shaping our long-term AI agenda,” Stevens wrote.

“That means bringing an outside-in perspective on global trends and regulation, strengthening trust and governance, and helping translate what’s changing in the world into practical outcomes for our customers and people.”

Stevens’ new role sees her report into the chief general counsel and group executive of corporate affairs, risk and legal Lyndall Stoyles.

It’s understood that part of Stevens’ new role is to shape strategy and policies around broader AI adoption within Telstra in line with the telco’s Connected Future 30 strategy, of which AI is considered a central enabler.

Stevens will also have responsibility for strengthening trust, credibility and influence with customers, partners, regulators and broader stakeholders around AI while continuing to deliver tangible outcomes.

Her former role of Data & AI executive - albeit with an expanded remit - will be handled by Joanna Knox.

The expanded remit comes in the form of central oversight of both the Data & AI joint ventures with Quantium and Accenture.

Stevens had previously been the co-CEO of the Accenture joint venture. The other co-CEO is US-based Accenture executive Arnab Chakraborty.

The Data & AI executive - Knox - also now has central oversight of the Telstra Quantium joint venture. 

That change is important in the context that Telstra has a stated aim of consolidating “vendor support from 18 data and AI providers and partners down to [the] two joint ventures.”

Having a single Telstra executive across both joint ventures appears to progress that vision.

Previously, oversight of the Telstra Quantium joint venture on Telstra’s side fell to Sandy Cameron, but he has now moved into an ‘Australia Infrastructure AI’ executive role in the newly formed Telstra Digital Infrastructure (TDI) unit, led by Steve Worrall.

The two joint ventures have different aims. 

The venture with Quantium is about jointly developing “advanced AI solutions” for specific problems, while the newer venture with Accenture aims to “supercharge” the telco’s AI adoption, compressing the timeframe from five years down to two, Stevens wrote in a recent blog post.

Data & AI continues to report through to Kim Krogh Andersen, who himself has recently taken on a broader responsibility covering networks and IT under the newly formed ‘Network, Product and Technology’ function.