Graduate of the Year 2025

Meet Prateek Ashok Kumar, a standout early-career leader whose graduate journey has combined technical excellence, strategic impact and a deep commitment to building inclusive professional communities.

As this year’s Graduate of the Year Award winner, he shares with us the mindset, challenges and defining moments that shaped his remarkable path so far.

Congratulations Prateek!,

Winning Graduate of the Year is an incredible achievement. How does it feel to have your journey recognised in this way?

It feels like the true reward is the validation of the mindset I adopted. When you start a career, especially as an ambitious graduate, the urge is to play it safe and follow the process. My journey was defined by doing the opposite: I deliberately sought out the most uncomfortable, ambiguous, and high-stakes projects and teams I could find, whether it was technical, strategic or human centric. Winning this award isn't just a nod to the results, it’s an incredible honour that affirms the power of that mindset: that if you lead with proactive resilience, you can deliver strategic impact far exceeding your job title. It makes me feel ready for whatever comes next.

You’ve been described as both a Digital Guardian and a Catalyst for Growth. What do those roles mean to you, and how have they shaped your graduate experience?

These titles perfectly capture the two sides of my passion. Being a Digital Guardian is about responsibility. It’s about not just running with the status quo but feeling compelled to look around the corner for the threats that are rapidly surfacing. That is what drove me to challenge the historical risk approach and pioneer the Quantum Computing risk scenario. It’s a mentality of protective, forward-thinking leadership.

The Catalyst for Growth role is more personal. Having started with no support system in the UK, I knew what it felt like to be isolated. I simply couldn’t stand by and watch other new joiners feel that same way. That's why I poured my energy into building and chairing the Early Professionals Group, turning an idea into a thriving, 200-member-strong network with multiple events on career development. My graduate experience, therefore, wasn't just a technical training ground; it was a journey of finding my voice as a leader, both in protecting the business and in building the community around me.

One of your standout contributions was pioneering BT’s approach to quantum computing risks, a complex, forward looking challenge. What inspired you to take that on, and what impact has it had?

I was inspired to take on the quantum computing challenge because I am passionate about emerging technologies, and I recognised the critical limitation of relying solely on historical data for risk assessment. We were experts at assessing yesterday’s problems, but I realised that a truly catastrophic, business-changing event often comes from a threat you haven't even sighted yet. As a Digital Guardian, my duty was to shift our perspective from reactive to proactive security, extending our risk sighting horizon up to 5 years into the future.

The real challenge wasn't the science; it was translating that heavy, theoretical risk into a realistic business scenario the Executive Committee would care about. So, I acted as a translator. I translated the threat of a Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer (CRQC) into a realistic risk scenario based on the MITRE ATT&CK framework. I then used the ISO 31000 framework for risk assessment and the FAIR methodology to quantify the exposure and loss profiles. Finally, I performed Monte Carlo simulations to determine the Annualised Loss Expectancy (ALE).

I then created detailed 'cheat sheets' and conducted workshops to make the complex subject accessible across the business. The ultimate impact was shifting our mindset from reactive to proactive security, resulting in the scenario’s integration into a key emerging risk report. This facilitated leadership dialogue and cross-department collaboration, resulting in informed decisions about migrating to quantum-safe technology.

You also led the development of a new assurance process for the Telecommunications Security Act, a critical piece of work for BT. What did you learn from delivering a project of that scale and importance so early in your career?

The retiring senior manager at the time was against taking on a graduate for the team. I lacked the years of practical experience, but I took that as a challenge to prove I can do anything I put my mind to, and that I will deliver, no matter the challenge. (Thank you, Simon Turner, for your faith in me and giving me this opportunity). I learned that credibility is the only currency that matters.

When I took on the TSA assurance project, I was handed a brand new, chaotic, inconsistent, manually driven process. I was the least experienced person in the room, and I knew I couldn't lead by seniority. So, I led by systemic design and influence. I learned to listen to the pain points, then delivered a single source of truth—a semi-automated assurance data model and governance process. This was built on raw data from defined Jira workflows and presented in custom dashboards.

My biggest learning was in stakeholder management: I had to justify and influence senior stakeholders across multiple functions (Networks, Digital, Legal, Regulatory) to align on a standardized way of reporting. This proved that a compelling, well-structured solution will always beat organizational inertia. This streamlined the quarterly reporting lifecycle and resulted in the successful issuance of the first Quarterly Return in Q1 2024. This process taught me to lead with quiet confidence and to prove that an early career professional could tackle an issue critical enough to be recognised by the BT Group CISO as "going above and beyond".

Your personal story is powerful, moving to the UK as a first-generation computer technology engineer, overcoming self-doubt and proving yourself in high stakes environments. What kept you motivated through the toughest moments?

My motivation was rooted in a deep sense of proving myself and resilience. Moving to the UK independently, without a support network, meant I carried not just my own ambition, but the weight of my family’s high expectations and a huge student debt. My motivation was fuelled by a simple strategic move: I weaponised my self-doubt.

I found that the fastest way to silence the internal noise of "I'm not experienced enough" was to deliberately seek out the work that required me to be better. When the stakes were highest, like in the middle of a complex risk quantification or a tough regulatory deadline, I didn't retreat. I doubled down on active learning, sought external mentors, and created a personal mission to be the most prepared person in the room. That consistent, proactive drive to transform every moment of self-doubt into a moment of disciplined action is what powered me through.

My success became a cyclical process: take on the hardest task, defeat the doubt, and gain the confidence to take on the next, even harder task. This experience taught me the true meaning of resilience: it’s not just enduring hardship; it's action in the face of uncertainty. I realised that growth only comes when you stop waiting to feel ready and start doing the uncomfortable work.

Finally, you’ve worked hard to inspire others, from building a 200-member Early Professionals Group to mentoring new talent. What’s your vision for the future — both for yourself and for the next generation entering telecoms?

My vision is to continue escalating the impact of my security expertise in the critical national infrastructure (CNI) domains. For myself, the experience in security governance, risk and compliance that I accumulated in telecoms are now being applied in the world of civil aviation, aerospace and defence. My recent transition to Airbus Protect is a natural continuation of this mission. My focus is to rapidly become a key strategic leader in this new environment, translating complex, cutting-edge threats into actionable, enterprise-wide strategy.

For the next generation, my vision is about knowledge transfer and empowerment. Even as I shift sectors, my commitment to the ITP and mentoring remains absolute. I want to use my story to demonstrate two things: first, that security expertise is the most transferable skill in the modern economy, giving them freedom of movement across critical sectors. And second, that the greatest career accelerant is not a qualification, but the network you actively build around yourself. I want to continue guiding them to turn potential into palpable, measurable impact in the telecoms and other industries.