- Pathways for Progress is an industry-first career program that verifies practical, executable expertise and rewards sustained industry contribution
- First black belt award at DTW Ignite 2026, recognizing outstanding real-world expertise, collaboration and execution.
London, UK, June 4, 2026 – TM Forum today launched Pathways for Progress, a career accelerator for the AI-native telco era, with the first prestigious black belt award to be presented at DTW Ignite 2026 (Copenhagen, June 23-25).
The program rewards telecom professionals for sustained skills development and industry contribution, helping build the capabilities essential to an AI-native CSP while turning talent investment into measurable business impact.
For individuals, it tracks verified contribution across certifications, innovation projects, collaborative industry work, and leadership contributions. Points unlock progressive belt status (white, yellow, blue, red, black), creating a transparent career pathway that rewards real delivery and can be displayed on professional profiles, including LinkedIn, as visible proof of capability and industry impact.
Figure 1: Pathways for Progress belt progression system
For organizations, Pathways for Progress proves the return on skills investment by providing clear visibility into who has the skillsets and leadership needed to build and run next-gen telco operations.
“Skills will make or break the future telco,” said Shuvo Saha, VP Education at TM Forum. “Pathways for Progress recognizes verified knowledge and skills, and contribution to the industry. It keeps skills grounded in real delivery and makes progress toward the AI-native telco visible, valued, and measurable.”
Lester Thomas at Vodafone is the first to achieve the black belt award, recognizing his significant and sustained commitment to professional excellence, industry contribution, and measurable impact. This prestigious award is the highest level in the Pathways for Progress framework and one earned only through consistent, verified impact across multiple areas and over time.
“The Pathways for Progress black belt award is an enormous honor. This journey has been hugely valuable to my personal development, pushing me to translate ambition into real impact within my organisation and across the wider industry. It celebrates the power of sustained contribution, and I’m proud to be the first to receive this recognition,” added Lester Thomas, Head of New Technologies and Innovation at Vodafone Digital and IT.
See Pathways for Progress in action at DTW Ignite 2026
All Pathways for Progress achievers can access their online record at the TM Forum Industry Showcase kiosk at DTW Ignite.
Also, look out for:
- Pathways for Progress session: meet our first black belt achiever and hear how leading operators are embedding these pathways into their own internal development and transformation programs (Wednesday, 24 June at 12:15pm on the Future Skills stage)
- Future Skills Arena: practical masterclasses plus presentations including Culture shock: building the workforce for autonomous operations and Talent for transformation: building the workforce that delivers
- Live demonstrations in the Mission Garages: how capability underpins progress across Composable IT and Ecosystems, Autonomous Networks, and Trustworthy AI and Data
About TM Forum
TM Forum is an alliance of over 800 organizations spanning the global connectivity ecosystem, including the world’s top ten Communication Service Providers (CSPs), top three hyperscalers and Network Equipment Providers (NEPs), vendors, consultancies and system integrators, large and small.
We provide a place for our Members to collaborate, innovate, and deliver lasting change. Together, we are building a sustainable future for the industry in connectivity and beyond.
To find out more, visit: www.tmforum.org
Media Contacts
tmforum@babel.com
PR Archives: Latest, By Company, By Date