Telstra CIO Erez Yarkoni resigns

Telstra is on the hunt for its fifth chief information officer in six years, with Erez Yarkoni to step down in October.

A spokesperson for the telco confirmed to iTnews that Yarkoni would depart after a year-and-a-half in the lead IT role. He was named CIO in February 2015.

The spokesperson said Yarkoni resigned “to move permanently back to the US to join his family”.

“He departs Telstra with a clear road map for us to execute and deliver on our vision to become a world class technology provider,” the spokesperson said.

"Erez will be in his role until October 2016 to ensure a smooth transition of his leadership. A replacement will be announced closer to this time.”

Comment was also being sought from Yarkoni at the time of publication.

Yarkoni was named CIO after first leading Telstra's burgeoning cloud business. He had been splitting his time between Australia and the US.

Prior to Yarkoni, Telstra's top IT job was held by Patrick Eltridge (2010-2014), Ashley Lazaro (acting CIO for nine months of 2010) and John McInerney (late 2008-2010).

The latest CIO departure comes just months after Telstra lost its CTO Vish Nandlall over issues with his CV and presentation materials.

The telco's technology operations are being run by new head of technology, innovation and strategy Stephen Elop, who left Nokia to take on the role earlier this year.