Zayo hired its second Verizon veteran in as many months, this time tapping Jeff Noto as its new CFO. Noto fills the shoes vacated by Matt Steinfort earlier this year.
Noto spent 35 years at Verizon, most recently serving as SVP and CFO for Verizon’s Global Networks and Technology Division as well as its Global Services unit. Other roles included stints as SVP of Business Analytics, SVP and CFO for Consumer and Small Business, and SVP and CFO of Product and New Business Innovation, his LinkedIn profile shows.
In an interview with Fierce, Noto said conversations with Zayo began after he was contacted by a recruiter for the role. He initially gave them the names of other suitable candidates but eventually agreed to have a chat with Zayo CEO Steve Smith. Smith’s passion for the business sparked Noto’s interest, but he said leaving Verizon was “a very hard decision.”
Now in his third day on the job, Noto said he is still focused on listening as he gets to know his new team, leadership’s priorities and the business as a whole. But soon, he added, he hopes to start asking questions and offering ideas about where the company can add value and how to manage its rapid growth in the most efficient way possible.
Zayo has spent the past few years upgrading its network with 400G capabilities and adding new dark fiber routes. And it’s already starting to see the results of this transformation. Zayo President Andres Irlando told Fierce last month the company posted record low churn in Q3 2022 and achieved double digit revenue growth across all of its segments in 2022.
“Every CFO’s first priority has to be really managing the financials of the business. But a big part of that, particularly in Zayo’s case, is how do we profitably grow the business in a way that maximizes the efficiency of the network, maximizes the efficiency of the cost structure and lets us deliver the best margin possible,” Noto explained.
“When a company is growing at the pace Zayo has been growing – talk about double digit growth – it’s easy to go for the growth hard and not necessarily focus on the cost side. My job is to make sure we’re focusing on both,” he added.
An example of what that might look like in practice could include making sure that when Zayo adds capacity for a customer to meet a commitment, it uses capacity on its own network first before it goes out and buys capacity from a third party.
Noto’s appointment comes just weeks after Zayo added former Verizon Public Sector Director Jason Taylor to its roster as its new SVP of Enterprise Sales. Zayo also recently added executives from Cisco and Equinix to its leadership team.
Smith said in a statement Noto “brings a critical understanding of what it takes to drive growth and operational excellence” at a key moment for the company, and will “help strengthen and position our organization for greater, long-term success.”
The incoming executive replaces Matt Steinfort, who served as Zayo’s CFO from 2016 to the end of 2022. In November, Steinfort revealed plans to leave Zayo for a position as CFO of cloud company DigitalOcean, effective January 2023.