Didier Liautaud (Stanford, joined BT in 2006)

The MLP, in addition to giving you time to learn where you fit best in the organisation, allows you to build a network of like-minded individuals which is an essential asset in a large corporation. Furthermore, it does that in a flexible, mature way as there are limited obligations in terms of the assignments one can choose and the length of one’s tenure.

The extent of the programme’s reach in the company is now quite extensive in all businesses and still increasing having been successful for several years; it gives members the ability to experience so many different facets of BT.

The programme certainly worked for me in practice and I exited to my current position. In this role, I act as a mix between a CIO and a COO for Bt.com, a £250m business with a £20m IT spend which plays a fundamental part in the wider BT Retail division as a driver for cost savings. It is a senior role allowing me to grow, interact at managing director level and manage a large team – 35 people.