French telecoms giant Orange has named Usman Javaid as its new Chief AI Officer (CAIO), effective 1 September 2026.
Javaid will succeed Steve Jarrett, who is leaving the company to join leading AI firm Anthropic.
The appointment highlights the fierce competition for top AI talent in the technology sector, where companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Meta are reportedly offering substantial compensation packages to attract and retain experienced leaders.
Usman Javaid brings more than 20 years of international technology and telecommunications experience to the role. Since April 2023, he has served as Global Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Orange Business, where he has been responsible for product strategy, development, marketing, and driving data and AI transformation.
Before joining Orange, Javaid held several leadership positions at Amazon Web Services (AWS) from 2019 to 2023, overseeing cloud services across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He previously spent 11 years at Vodafone (2008–2019) in various international roles, initially spearheading the European 4G rollout in B2C and later focusing on B2B areas including cloud, IoT, operations, and network strategy.
Orange has positioned itself as a leading player in artificial intelligence, leveraging the technology to enhance operational efficiency. The company reports that AI-powered diagnostic tools have already helped avoid 180,000 maintenance callouts in France by testing customers’ Fiber to the Home connections remotely.
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The telecom group emphasises “frugal AI,” focusing on efficient and sustainable deployments that minimise environmental impact.
Bruno Zerbib, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Orange, welcomed the appointment, stating:
“At Orange, we believe every innovation should be inclusive and beneficial for all. That’s why our vision for AI is ethical, low-impact, human-centred and inclusive, without compromising our commitment to reducing CO₂ emissions.”
In his farewell message, outgoing CAIO Steve Jarrett praised Orange’s “deeply held ethical beliefs matched with world-class engineering” and noted that the company’s mission to connect over 340 million people across 26 countries had been close to his heart.
