SWOT
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AT&T Finance

Enabling seamless financial operations that power global connectivity while delivering unparalleled financial excellence

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Align the strategy

AT&T Finance SWOT Analysis

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Enabling seamless financial operations that power global connectivity while delivering unparalleled financial excellence

Strengths

  • ASSETS: Massive network infrastructure with 5G investments
  • BRAND: Strong recognized brand with 135+ years of heritage
  • REVENUE: Stable cash flows from wireless subscription model
  • SCALE: Vast customer base of 160M+ wireless subscribers
  • TALENT: Deep bench of financial expertise across disciplines

Weaknesses

  • DEBT: High debt load of $128.7B limiting strategic flexibility
  • COMPLEXITY: Legacy systems create operational inefficiencies
  • AGILITY: Slow decision-making in rapidly evolving market
  • INTEGRATION: Siloed financial processes across business units
  • AUTOMATION: Limited adoption of modern financial technologies

Opportunities

  • FIBER: Expand fiber network to add 2M+ new locations annually
  • 5G: Monetize 5G investments with premium service offerings
  • DATA: Leverage customer financial data for strategic insights
  • PARTNERSHIPS: Strategic fintech alliances to modernize systems
  • SIMPLIFICATION: Streamline financial operating model for agility

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Aggressive pricing from T-Mobile and Verizon
  • REGULATION: Increasing regulatory scrutiny and compliance costs
  • TECHNOLOGY: Rapid technological shifts requiring major capex
  • ECONOMIC: Inflationary pressures impacting consumer spending
  • TALENT: War for specialized financial technology talent

Key Priorities

  • DEBT: Implement aggressive debt reduction plan
  • DIGITAL: Accelerate financial systems modernization
  • EFFICIENCY: Optimize cost structure across all operations
  • INTEGRATION: Unify financial operations across business units
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Align the plan

AT&T Finance OKR Plan

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Enabling seamless financial operations that power global connectivity while delivering unparalleled financial excellence

FINANCIAL STRENGTH

Build industry-leading fiscal resilience and flexibility

  • DELEVERAGING: Reduce net debt by $4B through operational efficiency and asset optimization by end of Q2
  • CASHFLOW: Increase quarterly free cash flow to $4.8B through working capital optimization and capex efficiency
  • EFFICIENCY: Implement zero-based budgeting across all business units reducing OpEx by $600M this quarter
  • AUTOMATION: Deploy RPA solutions for 40% of manual finance processes reducing processing costs by 25%
DIGITAL FINANCE

Transform financial systems for speed and intelligence

  • PLATFORM: Complete migration of 60% of financial applications to cloud-based ERP platform by Q2 end
  • ANALYTICS: Launch AI-powered financial forecasting dashboard with 90% accuracy for 5 key metrics
  • INTEGRATION: Unify data from 6 legacy financial systems into central data lake with real-time access
  • TRAINING: Upskill 75% of finance team on digital finance tools with measurable proficiency gains
OPERATIONAL EDGE

Deliver best-in-class finance operational excellence

  • CLOSE: Reduce monthly financial close cycle from 8 days to 4 days through process optimization
  • PROCUREMENT: Implement AI-powered spend analysis reducing procurement costs by 8% across categories
  • PLANNING: Launch zero-based continuous planning process replacing annual budgeting in 3 business units
  • CONTROLS: Deploy automated compliance monitoring covering 80% of high-risk transactions by quarter end
UNITY

Create seamless financial alignment across the business

  • REPORTING: Standardize financial reporting across all business units with unified KPI dashboard
  • SIMPLIFICATION: Reduce financial approval layers from 6 to 3 while maintaining governance standards
  • COLLABORATION: Implement cross-functional financial business partnering model in 4 key business units
  • ALIGNMENT: Cascade and align quarterly financial targets to 100% of cost center owners with weekly tracking
METRICS
  • FREE CASH FLOW: $17B for 2024, quarterly target $4.3B
  • DEBT-TO-EBITDA RATIO: Reduce from 3.1x to 2.8x by year-end
  • FINANCE COST-TO-REVENUE: Reduce from 1.2% to 0.9% by Q4
VALUES
  • Integrity and Transparency
  • Customer-Centric Financial Solutions
  • Operational Excellence
  • Innovation and Agility
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Align the learnings

AT&T Finance Retrospective

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Enabling seamless financial operations that power global connectivity while delivering unparalleled financial excellence

What Went Well

  • WIRELESS: Strong postpaid phone net adds of 424,000 exceeding estimates
  • FIBER: Added 252,000 fiber subscribers, maintaining strong growth momentum
  • FCF: Generated $4.6B in free cash flow, up 36% year-over-year in Q1 2023
  • EFFICIENCY: Achieved $2.1B in run-rate cost savings ahead of target schedule

Not So Well

  • BUSINESS: Business wireline revenue declined 7.9% year-over-year in Q1 2023
  • CHURN: Postpaid phone churn increased slightly to 0.79% versus prior year
  • BROADBAND: Non-fiber broadband connections continued to decline by 18.6%
  • MARGINS: EBITDA margins pressured by inflationary costs despite mitigation

Learnings

  • FOCUS: Strategic focus on core connectivity services driving growth metrics
  • INVESTMENT: Targeted network investments yielding superior customer gains
  • SIMPLIFICATION: Organizational simplification improving operational agility
  • DISCIPLINE: Financial discipline and cost control enhancing cash generation

Action Items

  • ACCELERATION: Accelerate fiber deployment to exceed 2.5M+ locations in 2023
  • OPTIMIZATION: Implement zero-based budgeting across all financial operations
  • AUTOMATION: Deploy RPA for 50% of manual finance processes by year-end 2023
  • INTEGRATION: Consolidate financial systems to single cloud-based platform
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Drive AI transformation

AT&T Finance AI Strategy SWOT Analysis

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Enabling seamless financial operations that power global connectivity while delivering unparalleled financial excellence

Strengths

  • DATA: Vast customer and financial transaction datasets
  • SCALE: Enterprise-level AI infrastructure and resources
  • TALENT: Growing pool of financial AI and data science expertise
  • INVESTMENT: Dedicated budget for finance AI transformation
  • LEADERSHIP: Executive commitment to AI-driven finance

Weaknesses

  • LEGACY: Outdated systems limiting AI implementation
  • SILOS: Fragmented data architecture across finance functions
  • SKILLS: Shortage of advanced AI skills in finance organization
  • ADOPTION: Resistance to AI-driven process changes
  • GOVERNANCE: Underdeveloped AI governance framework

Opportunities

  • AUTOMATION: Automate 60% of routine financial processes
  • FORECASTING: Enhance accuracy of financial forecasting by 30%
  • INSIGHTS: Deploy AI for real-time financial decision support
  • COMPLIANCE: Strengthen regulatory compliance through AI
  • EFFICIENCY: Reduce financial close process time by 40%

Threats

  • SECURITY: Increased cybersecurity risks with AI systems
  • COMPETITION: Fintech disruption of traditional processes
  • REGULATION: Evolving AI regulatory landscape and compliance
  • ETHICS: Reputational risks from biased AI financial models
  • TALENT: Difficulty attracting specialized AI finance talent

Key Priorities

  • PLATFORM: Build unified finance AI platform and data lake
  • AUTOMATION: Scale AI-powered financial process automation
  • UPSKILLING: Launch comprehensive AI finance training program
  • GOVERNANCE: Establish robust ethical AI governance framework