We had a chat with Emilio to find out what BT in Spain has to offer to university students, how he developed his technology knowledge and career with us over twenty-six years, and what makes him proud to work for BT.
Can you tell us more about your role as a Protector in Security for BT?
My role is to lead Madrid's commercial Cyber Security operations by providing security incident management from detection to remediation. One of the most important factors is to develop our capabilities in prevention and prediction in order to protect our customers from threats and attacks.
You’ve been with BT for twenty-six years. What has made you want to grow your career and stay within the same company for so long?
I was recently talking to a colleague about this. BT has given me the opportunity to develop myself by allowing me to move roles and responsibility both laterally and vertically, as well as to gain experience in many different technical areas.
In short, I’ve been able to get the experience I could have gained from working in several different companies over the years, but without having to move, whilst benefitting from all that BT has to offer.
How did BT support you to be where you are now?
In many different ways. You could say that a lot of my personal life and my professional life go hand in hand. All the support BT has given me in my professional life has also been support for my family and my personal life. BT has trained me professionally in different disciplines and technological skills, but it has also contributed to my personal development, in terms of the behaviours and values it has instilled in me, as well as opportunities for social development through experiences like volunteering.
How is BT supporting young people’s entry into the working world and the Cyber Security space in Spain?
BT in Spain has the option to offer university students an internship programme of approximately one year. We then have the opportunity to select some of the university students who are interested in Cyber Security and who also have the motivation and attitude to make the most of the opportunities that BT has to offer.
If they meet these requirements, we can then incorporate them into the SOC (Security Operation Centre) to train them in the technological field of Cyber Security, as well as the methods, culture and ways of working in a SOC. The objective is always for them to become part of the Madrid SOC team when the opportunity arises.
Security, like other STEM fields, has traditionally been a male dominated space. How do you see this changing now at BT and in the future, and why is it important that it does?
Well, at Madrid SOC, we are making every effort to change this situation little by little so that it is more balanced. Right now, out of fifty-one professionals, eleven are women and two of them occupy management positions in Madrid’s SOC. The most recent additions to the team have been women, and we will continue to try to ensure that the next ones are women too. This requires an additional effort in the recruitment process, but in the end, we are getting women who are motivated to take on the challenge of being Cyber Security professionals.
More and more women are becoming interested in Cyber Security, but there is still a need for women to play a greater role in Cyber Security. The more women who join the Cyber Security community, the larger the community in this sector will benefit. In my opinion, having more women can help us solve security incidents and unexpected situations in new and valuable ways, and they can bring other things to the table that can help protect us from attacks. I think it is also necessary to have women Cyber Security professionals as role models to encourage more women to join. In turn, they can play a greater role in being mentors to others, lead and advise in technical areas, defining not only the what but also the how.
What makes you proud to work for BT?
There are many things that make me feel proud of working for BT, such as the possibility of never stopping learning or the valuable human capital of professionals working here. Above all, I have to highlight that BT has always helped me grow professionally and supported me in my personal life, which has contributed to having a family which I feel very proud of as well.
