In September, Optus chief executive Robin ‘Kelly’ Bayer Rosmarin posted a picture of herself seated at a desk, wearing a black leather jacket, talking to an unhappy customer who had a “less than ideal” experience with the company’s service.
The LinkedIn post was a PR exercise by Bayer Rosmarin, who her peers describe as very focused on her own profile. Accompanying the photo she wrote: “It’s really important for leaders to speak directly to customers to better understand how and why things didn’t go the way we may have wanted.”
For Bayer Rosmarin, 47, little has gone the way she would have wanted after becoming the Optus boss in April 2020. Since then, she has led the company through three crises. The pandemic, a damaging 2022 cyberattack that exposed customers personal details, and a major network outage this month.
Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was appointed to the role in April 2020. Credit: Dallas Kilponen
Optus is the first chief executive role for Bayer Rosmarin, a former Commonwealth Bank executive, who earned a degree in industrial engineering. Ralph Norris, a former CBA chief executive, says that during his time at the bank, she was “regarded as being very intelligent and a high-potential prospect for higher levels of management”.
Bayer Rosmarin was promoted by Norris’ successor, Ian Narev. “I appointed her to the CBA executive committee around 10 years ago as the head of the Institutional Banking and Markets business. It was a significant step-up for her - she was only in her mid-thirties. She had earned the opportunity through her track record in multiple previous roles, and her rare combination of intellect, creative thinking, particularly in relation to emerging technologies, and determination,” recalls Narev. “She had also become a widely respected leader, known for expecting a lot from her people but being fair and caring.”
Other peers in the banking and telecommunications sectors describe Bayer Rosmarin as “clever”, “highly competent”, “hard-working”, “massively confident”, “not a good listener”, “networked to the hilt” and “impatient”.
“She’s unlikely to be in that role in 12 months’ time.”
Bayer Rosmarin is now managing Optus’ latest crisis: a network outage, caused by a routine software upgrade, which left 10 million customers without internet, telephone and e-payment services for hours. It crippled businesses and government organisations, from Melbourne’s rail network to banks and hospitals.
Both the outage and last year’s cyberattack have cost Optus hundreds of millions of dollars, damaged the company’s brand, its relationship with Australian state and federal governments, businesses and customers, resulted in legal action and triggered multiple government and regulatory reviews.
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s future in doubt
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16.11.2023
In September, Optus chief executive Robin ‘Kelly’ Bayer Rosmarin posted a picture of herself seated at a desk, wearing a black leather jacket, talking to an unhappy customer who had a “less than ideal” experience with the company’s service.
The LinkedIn post was a PR exercise by Bayer Rosmarin, who her peers describe as very focused on her own profile. Accompanying the photo she wrote: “It’s really important for leaders to speak directly to customers to better understand how and why things didn’t go the way we may have wanted.”
For Bayer Rosmarin, 47, little has gone the way she would have wanted after becoming the Optus boss in April 2020. Since then, she has led the........
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