Sowmyanarayan Sampath has been appointed as Verizon Business executive vice president and CEO, effective July 1, 2022.

He will succeed Tami Erwin, who will assume the role of strategic advisor to the CEO until the end of 2022.

Sampath will report directly to Verizon chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg.

"Sampath brings more than two decades of experience in digital transformation and critical network infrastructure on behalf of business customers to his new role at Verizon, plus extensive knowledge of products and their role in powering enterprise growth and global security," Vestberg says.

"I am proud of the Verizon Business team's drive and continued growth as part of our customer-facing transformation model.

"Given Sampath's distinguished Verizon tenure, this will be a seamless transition and I expect him to continue the business momentum."

Sampath joined Verizon in 2014 as business transformation senior vice president and, over the years, has served in several strategic roles within the company, including consumer and enterprise businesses chief product officer and Verizon Media Group chief financial officer, before becoming global enterprise president.

Sampath currently serves as Verizon Business chief revenue officer and has been a decisive driving force behind the organisation's commercial success, its culture of shared success and relentless focus on customer needs.

"I come to this role from a very diverse background, a mindset to constantly learn and a mission to lead with kindness and integrity during this critical moment of radical digitisation for our customers," Sampath says.

"The Verizon Business team is absolutely the best in the business, and I am committed to ensuring we continue to build on the momentum and success we have shared together thus far.

"The time is now to disrupt the industry and stay laser-focused on transformational outcomes for our customers and how Verizon serves their needs."