Meet Prachi

Prachi Sukhatankar leads climate and infrastructure transformation for Booz Allen's clients. She and her cross-functional teams aim to help clients improve safety, sustainability, efficiency, and resilience by using technology solutions such as climate intelligence, smart transport infrastructure, advanced energy technologies, and aviation modernization to meet their mission objectives. 

Before joining Booz Allen, Prachi was vice president of technology within Amentum’s Strategic Growth Office, where she led the strategy, solution development, and delivery of next-generation technology solutions using analytics, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation. Prachi previously held progressive leadership positions at SAIC, culminating as a strategy and solutions director and SAIC fellow.  

Prachi received a M.S. in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in electronics and telecom from the College of Engineering in Pune, India. She has completed a specialization in design thinking and innovation. She is also certified as a Project Management Institute Agile certified practitioner, TechVenture™ entrepreneur, and Smart Cities practitioner. 

What's a skill you learned growing up, and how is it still relevant to you today?

Growing up, I was a voracious reader and also liked creative writing. I wrote in three different languages, which may have rewired my brain in certain ways. In recent years, I have started writing simple stories that are multilayered with human aspirations and our core truths. I think storytelling influences my work, allowing me to abstract technically complex structures to show their essence and connect dots across different disciplines and ideas. 

What are you most passionate about in the work you do for Booz Allen? 

Our teams combat the impacts of climate change on multiple sectors, solving issues from natural resource constraints and critical infrastructure threats to optimal preparedness and disaster response needs. I am particularly passionate about building and bringing together strategy, the right market disruptors and solutions, and nimble teams to solve the most pressing problems of this decade and beyond. 

What are the three most pressing needs for combating impacts of climate change?  

• Systems Thinking: The problems of climate change are multidimensional—they apply to multiple sectors with multiple levers and pathways to achieve their mission outcomes. Further, the outcomes are meaningful if viewed through the lens of justice, human and planetary interconnections, and overall well-being and harmony. Bringing this "systems view" and breaking down the silos is a pressing need.  
• Exploration: As the climate ecosystem evolves through local and global dialogues, increased impacts of extreme events, and advancements in technological innovations, we will have to embrace the uncertainty that comes with it and continue to be exploratory. Exploration is not limited to only envisioning different futures. We become better futurists by becoming better historians and learning from the past.
• Persistence:  We need persistence and the highest collaboration possible through communities and partnerships to overcome these challenges. 

What are the three biggest opportunities you're focused on at Booz Allen?

• Combining our mission understanding of climate datasets with data, artificial intelligence, scientific knowledge, and emerging technologies to shorten and accelerate the path to climate action
• Democratizing datasets and tools to make it easy for an innovation ecosystem to thrive across all levels of government, businesses, and the general public
• Developing innovative business models to accelerate deployments across energy, environment, and infrastructure portfolios to enable the transition to a clean economy

How do you inspire your teams to do excellent work? How do your teams inspire you?

I believe in creating the right environment where team members can understand the purpose behind their work and why it matters, play to their strengths, and bring their best ideas forward. I believe in a growth mindset and foster it through continuous learning and creative activities for myself and hope that my team is motivated by it. I am inspired by my team members being passionate about the mission and always willing to extend a helpful hand to other team members.