What do investigative journalists and the world’s most impactful leaders have in common? Take a look at the trajectory of Hande Asik, Group Head of Strategy and Comms at VEON, and you’ll begin to understand: it’s all about asking the right questions.

After graduating with a degree in political science, Hande Asik spent the first decade of her career as a broadcast journalist in her native Türkiye, reporting on the invisible currents of power and influence that affected the lives of everyday people. Then, 12 years ago, she made a dramatic pivot: she left news behind, and plunged into the world of technology and communication. In that space, she climbed rapidly, first at Turkcell, and then at the multinational telecom giant VEON, where she currently serves as Head of Strategy and Communications. From the outside, it looks like a wild left turn, and yet if you ask Hande the secret to her meteoric rise in her second career, she’ll tell you that it’s because she never really stopped being a journalist. That same instinct for asking the right questions and truly listening to the answers is what has allowed her to make such an impact with VEON’s 160 million customers.

There, Hande has taken up some righteous causes: language equality in the sphere of AI; digital access and literacy in remote regions; the inheritance rights of women in Pakistan. The through-line that connects it all is her unfailing curiosity for the stories that aren’t yet being told. 

Here, Hande Asik tells June Sarpong a remarkable story of reinvention, on the one hand, and staying true to yourself, on the other. In navigating that balance, Hande provides an exciting template for anyone with the ambition to make a difference.

Rewire is a Cup & Nuzzle production for the GSMA

Series Producers: Abby Hollick & Frank Palmer

Producer: Louise Sinnerton

Executive Producers: Graham Hodge & Matt Everitt

Production Manager: Maxim Taylor

GSMA:

Head of Brand & Content Strategy: Julie Mahoney

Global Creative Director: Andy Robinson 

Project Manager: Osaze Obazuaye 

Senior Video Creative: Christopher Waggott 

Copywriter: Rachel Holmes 

Video and Production Design: We Love Martha