# Lumen's CEO Once Asked a Stranger to Be Her Best Friend at a Conference. It Turned Into a Real Business Partnership With EY's CEO > Kate Johnson, CEO of Lumen Technologies, introduced herself to EY's newly named CEO Janet Truncale with an unusual icebreaker at a Business Roundtable event, and the friendship it sparked later grew into a professional partnership when EY won a contract to help transform Lumen's network inventory. - Source: Continental - Canonical URL: https://continental.today/article/lumen-s-ceo-once-asked-a-stranger-to-be-her-best-friend-at-a-conference-it-turned-into-a-real-business-partnership-with-ey-s-ceo - Author: staff - Section: Business - Published: 2026-10-14T15:57:14.575Z - Updated: 2026-10-14T15:57:14.575Z - Tags: Leadership, Lumen Technologies, EY, CEOs --- Kate Johnson, the chief executive of Lumen Technologies, has a story she likes to tell about how she met one of her closest professional allies. A few years ago, at a breakfast tied to a Business Roundtable event, Johnson walked up to Janet Truncale, who had just been named global chair and chief executive of EY, and asked her directly: will you be my best friend. Johnson has said she asked because she wanted the day to go better, and Truncale agreed. Johnson later helped Truncale track down her name tag before the seating filled up, a small favor that became the start of a real relationship. Both women describe themselves as introverts, which makes the blunt approach stand out even more. What began as a personal connection eventually turned into a professional one: EY later won a contract to help transform Lumen's network inventory, giving the two executives a reason to work together beyond the conference circuit. The partnership fits EY's broader business model. The firm generated roughly $57 billion in global revenue last year, and about a quarter of that came through alliances and ecosystem partners rather than EY's own direct client work, making relationships like the one with Lumen a meaningful part of how the firm grows. Both leaders framed the friendship as a case study in how they think about partnership at the top of large companies. Johnson has said that liking someone is far less important than respecting their abilities, and that she treats partnerships as a strategic way to stretch limited human and financial resources rather than a sign of weakness. Truncale has made a similar point, arguing that leaders should feel confident partnering with outside experts to fill gaps in their own knowledge instead of treating it as an admission of inadequacy. The two shared the story publicly at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit on October 13, 2026, using it to illustrate a broader argument: that the alliances chief executives build with each other, even ones that start as awkwardly as an unprompted request for friendship, can end up shaping how their companies actually do business. --- Originally published by Continental. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://continental.today/article/lumen-s-ceo-once-asked-a-stranger-to-be-her-best-friend-at-a-conference-it-turned-into-a-real-business-partnership-with-ey-s-ceo.