Mental Health Leader Spotlight: Ben Hagan of AT&T

June 18, 2026

AT&T's goal is to provide every employee, whether they work at a call center, in the field, or in an administrative building, access to high-quality care as quickly and efficiently as possible. When someone is stressed or in crisis, they shouldn’t have to take 10 or 15 extra steps to get what they need.-Ben Hagan

For AT&T’s Ben Hagan, delivering cost-effective, life-changing mental health care isn’t just part of his day job—it’s something that keeps him up at night. He shared candid thoughts on why investing in quality mental health support paid off.  

On treating benefits as a performance and cost-savings lever

While the rising cost of benefits is a constant concern for Ben, he views optimization as a better path than simple cost-cutting. To him, the real metric of success isn't just the budget—it's whether the dollars spent are actually driving results.

“We’re constantly analyzing: Are we getting people the right expertise with our dollars, or do we just have a bunch of check-the-box solutions? If we can get everyone to make one small step of improvement, we can impact their day-to-day life and their ability to perform at work.”

On why “right-sized” care drives real engagement and change

Ben believes that access is only one piece of the puzzle; for employees to take the "leap of faith" required to seek care, the solution must feel personal.

“Not everybody needs an inpatient facility. People need options and the ability to find the one or two of the 15 parts of the solution that really resonate with them.”

And as these "right-sized" solutions become readily available, something powerful happens: 

“We're seeing a snowball effect. When mental health support becomes more readily available in the workplace, more and more people start to remove or tear down the stigma of finding help, and more people feel comfortable using it. As we look through engagement data and have conversations with leaders in our facilities, we start to see that normalization factor really comes into play.”

On taking risks, and being recognized for it

This intentional approach earned AT&T the Lyra Breakthrough Workforce Mental Health Innovative Company of the Year Award. 

“This award means a lot to the team because it’s recognition for all the hard work that goes into pushing the envelope and taking a risk to help our employees. It recognizes that we’re trying new things to ensure our employees can get the care they need, especially in the mental health field, which is an area that needs more focus.”