Earlier this week, T-Mobile (TMUS) raised eyebrows when it confirmed recent speculation that its CEO, Mike Sievert, will step down from his position at the company after over five years.

In a press release, T-Mobile revealed that Sievert will be replaced as CEO by the company’s current chief operating officer, Srini Gopalan, effective Nov. 1. Sievert, however, won’t be leaving the company; he will instead move on to the role of vice chair.

“Srini has been an incredible partner in shaping the future of T-Mobile as well as instrumental in leading our record growth this year and driving initiatives to serve customers in new ways and win them for life,” said Sievert in the press release. “One fact has become crystal clear: Srini is ready to lead.”

RTMNexus CEO Dominick Miserandino said T-Mobile’s CEO shakeup further emphasizes its shift toward becoming a “digital-first company.”

“It’s a significant shift from an acquisition mindset to, in their own words: most data-driven, AI-enabled, digital-first company in the industry,” said Miserandino. “It’s a different angle than the company was and the stock dropped 1% today so far.”

T-Mobile’s drastic change in leadership and direction comes after it flagged in its second-quarter earnings report for 2025 that while it attracted 830,000 new postpaid phone customers, its postpaid phone churn (the number of customers who cut their phone service) increased by 10 basis points year-over-year.

The loss of loyal customers comes after T-Mobile rolled out price increases for its older phone plans over the past year, which has frustrated customers. It has also battled heightened competition from cable companies that offer discounted phone services.

T-Mobile Chief Operating Officer Srini Gopalan will become CEO of the company on Nov. 1, 2025. 

Image source: Galuschka/picture alliance via Getty Images

T-Mobile plans to enforce an aggressive change 

As Gopalan is set to take over as CEO in November, T-Mobile is quietly planning to enforce a controversial change that will impact customers and employees.

A leaked document shared on Reddit by an individual claiming to be a T-Mobile employee reveals that T-Mobile plans to make customers solely dependent on its T-Life app to handle upgrades, new lines, account activations, etc.

The document depicts a chart showing that 85% of T-Mobile’s phone upgrades are currently orchestrated through the T-Life app. T-Mobile plans for 92% of phone upgrades to be conducted through the app by November and 100% by January next year.

Also, 70% of new line additions are currently done through T-Life. T-Mobile wants to ramp that up to 78% in October, 85% in November, and 100% in January.

Related: T-Mobile suffers massive boycott from customers When it comes to new account activations, T-Mobile aims for 50% of those to be completed in the T-Life app by next month, 60% in November, and 100% in January 2026.

The employee who shared the document on Reddit expressed concern that the increased dependence on T-Life would result in customer service representatives losing their jobs.

“I shouldn’t be posting this. But I don’t care. We literally won’t have a job by the summer of next year. I feel like tmobile will cut the bottom selling reps. If you’re in the bottom 20%, you’re done. Mark my words,” wrote the T-Mobile employee in the Reddit post.

T-Mobile’s T-Life app previously received backlash from customers 

T-Mobile first launched its T-Life app in January last year. It advertised the app as a “simplified experience” that allows customers to be more self-sufficient by granting them the ability to manage their own accounts and services.

The phone carrier even reportedly requires employees to encourage customers to download the app, giving them cash bonuses for each account they sign up for T-Life.

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More Telecom News: However, T-Life has received sharp criticism from customers for being too complicated to use. Some customers have even walked out of stores due to frustration navigating the app.

During an earnings call on Jan. 29, Sievert said customers are “loving” the T-Life app as its usage is rapidly growing.

“Customers are loving it,” said Sievert. “We said we’d see 40 million downloads by the end of the year, but we saw more than 50 million and with some incredible engagement numbers.”

Related: Verizon angers customers with new tactic to boost loyalty