Zayo has created the most senior marketing and communications role in its history, appointing Verizon veteran Mariana Agathoklis Schlock as its first-ever executive vice president and chief communications and marketing officer.
According to the announcement, Agathoklis Schlock will report directly to chief executive Sowmyanarayan Sampath and will lead the digital infrastructure provider’s integrated communications, marketing and environmental, social and governance functions. Her brief is to sharpen the company’s brand and commercial visibility as the rapid expansion of the AI economy reshapes global demand for high-capacity network infrastructure.
A Verizon pedigree
Agathoklis Schlock joins Zayo after nearly nine years at Verizon, where she held senior roles across its consumer, business, media and corporate organisations. Most recently she served as head of communications for Verizon Consumer, a business unit reported to generate around $100 billion in annual revenue, and helped lead initiatives including the public launch of 5G and the award-winning Verizon Family campaign. Her remit at Verizon spanned brand and commercial initiatives at significant scale, experience the company says it wants applied to telling Zayo’s story at speed.
Why the role matters now
The appointment marks the first time Zayo has combined communications, marketing and ESG under one executive, creating a single leadership structure for corporate messaging, brand development and stakeholder engagement. Unifying the functions under one leader is meant to give employees, customers, partners and investors a single, coherent account of where the company is heading. It follows a busy season for marketing leadership changes, with major brands refreshing their top teams as AI reshapes how companies present themselves.
It also signals how infrastructure businesses are borrowing consumer-marketing playbooks. As AI workloads push enterprises toward new connectivity purchases, the companies selling the fibre are finding that brand recognition — long the preserve of consumer technology — now matters in the boardroom too. That shift is already visible across the sector, where connectivity providers are investing in brand as a commercial asset rather than a corporate afterthought.
