Q&A with James Pearse of Atech Part of the Iomart Group, Security Excellence Awards finalist

‘We are not only a trusted partner, but a leader shaping the future of managed security’

Atech Part of the Iomart Group is a finalist in the Managed Security Award, Security Team of the Year and Security Partner of the Year categories in Computing’s Security Excellence Awards.

James Pearse is Chief Technology Officer at Atech Part of Iomart Group which empowers clients through tailored cloud and security solutions. By integrating AI with advanced compliance and security frameworks, Atech ensures robust protection and operational excellence.

James's mission is to support growth and transformation while strengthening Atech’s position as a trusted leader in the Microsoft ecosystem.

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James Pearse, CTO, Atech Part of the Iomart Group

Why do you think awards like the Security Excellence Awards matter?

Events like the Security Excellence Awards matter because they create a moment of collective reflection and celebration in an industry that often works behind the scenes, solving problems long before they ever become visible.

Cybersecurity can be a thankless discipline: when we do our jobs well, nothing happens. Awards programmes shine a light on the people and teams who prevent breaches, guide organisations safely through complex threats, and build the trust that underpins modern digital life. They also serve as a rallying point for innovation, recognising the individuals and companies pushing boundaries in AI‑driven detection, automated response, and secure‑by‑design practices.

For us, participating is not simply about recognition; it is about contributing to the momentum of the entire industry and celebrating the progress we are making together in defending organisations at scale.

What would winning this award mean to your company?

Winning this award would mean a great deal to Atech (and the team). Over the past year, our people have delivered at a level that has already been recognised through multiple shortlisting's for the Security Excellence Awards.

To be named a winner would validate the relentless behind‑the‑scenes work our engineers, analysts, architects and customer‑facing teams perform every day. It would acknowledge the long hours spent responding to critical incidents, guiding organisations through post‑breach recovery, developing new detection logic, and rolling out Microsoft security technologies such as Microsoft Sentinel and Defender.

It would also reinforce to our customers, and to the market, that we are not only a trusted partner, but a leader shaping the future of managed security. For our team, it would be energising: a shared achievement that reflects the culture of collaboration and excellence we have built.

What would you say is your company’s proudest achievement over the past year?

Our proudest achievement over the past year has been transforming our security operations into a truly modern, intelligence‑driven capability that delivers measurable outcomes for customers.

We have expanded our managed detection and response services, scaled our SOC with fully 24/7 operations, and introduced more automation across detection, investigation, and response workflows. Our team played a critical role in deploying enhanced Microsoft security capabilities across customer estates, including major Defender rollouts and Sentinel architectures -tasks that required deep technical skill and coordination across customer, partner, and internal stakeholder groups.

This evolving capability ultimately led to our company being shortlisted in several award categories, including Security Team of the Year, demonstrating that our progress is recognised not only internally, but by industry peers

What have been the biggest challenges of 2025 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

The biggest challenges of the year have centred on the rapidly evolving threat landscape (with AI playing an increasing role) and the increasing pressure on organisations to consolidate tooling, reduce risk, and prove cyber resilience - often with limited internal resources.

We saw customers struggling with fragmented environments and with navigating the shift towards integrated, AI‑enabled security platforms. Overcoming these challenges required our team to be adaptive, fast‑moving, and tightly aligned. We invested significantly in our people, providing ongoing training, certifications, and exposure to real‑world threat scenarios. When tensions were high, particularly during periods of heightened threat activity, our team consistently rose to the challenge.

Collaboration across our SOC, engineering, and customer‑facing teams ensured we could not only manage incidents effectively but also provide strategic guidance that reduced risk long‑term. This team‑first culture has been a defining strength and a major contributor to our success.

How has your industry changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

The cybersecurity industry has changed dramatically over the past year. AI has moved from experimentation to mainstream deployment—powering analysts, automating time‑consuming tasks, and enabling threat detection at speeds previously unimaginable.

Regulatory pressure has increased, with customers needing clearer evidence of compliance and improved data governance. Supply chain risk, identity‑based attacks, and cloud misconfiguration remain major drivers of incidents. At the same time, customers increasingly expect partners to deliver integrated, managed services rather than standalone products.

As an industry, we have made strides, but further change is still needed. We must continue standardising security baselines, improving interoperability between platforms, and making sophisticated defences accessible to mid‑market organisations that lack deep internal expertise.

What do you see as the main opportunities for your industry in the coming year?

Looking ahead, we see several major opportunities for the industry in the coming year. First, the rise of AI‑augmented security operations will continue, offering the chance to dramatically reduce response times and eliminate analyst fatigue.

Second, the consolidation of tools across Microsoft’s security ecosystem will allow partners like us to deliver more cohesive, cost‑effective services. Third, an increasing focus on resilience, and not just prevention, will push organisations to invest more in incident readiness, automation, and proactive threat hunting.

We plan to capitalise on these opportunities by continuing to develop and refine our managed services, investing heavily in AI‑driven analytics, and strengthening the strategic advisory capabilities we provide to customers. As part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association, we expect these shifts to accelerate, creating new avenues for collaboration and innovation.

Over the last 12 months, customer demands have changed significantly. Organisations increasingly want a partner who can simplify the complexity of modern security operations and provide clear, outcome‑based value. We have seen strong demand for:

Customers also want more transparency in security operations; dashboards, regular reviews, trend analysis, and evidence of improvement. We’ve responded by strengthening our reporting, introducing more automation, and enhancing the customer experience with tailored insights that speak directly to business risk.

Finally, one technology trend we are placing our bets on is AI‑enabled, agentic cybersecurity. The combination of AI‑driven detection, automated incident response, and context‑aware decision support will fundamentally change how security teams operate.

From Microsoft Security Copilot to automated playbooks in Sentinel, the shift towards self‑healing, adaptive security environments is already underway. We are embracing this evolution; building our services around these capabilities and upskilling our teams to make full use of them. We believe partners who adopt AI early and responsibly will be the ones to deliver the greatest value to customers in the years ahead.