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Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
Italy Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian
Nel percorso verso l’AI e la trasformazione digitale, dati e automazione sono gli elementi centrali di ogni strategia tecnologica. Ma senza una governance chiara, rischiano di diventare non solo fonte di inefficienza, ma anche di rischi e incoerenza. Come garantire che i dati siano completi, accessibili e affidabili? Come automatizzare le operation IT e i processi aziendali mantenendo controllo, compliance e sicurezza? Durante questa roundtable esclusiva, organizzata da CIONET Italia e IBM, affronteremo: La governance come abilitatore di dati affidabili e automazione sicura. Come prepararsi a un’adozione dell’AI realmente scalabile. Il ruolo di controllo, resilienza e gestione del rischio nell’innovazione.
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Belgium Oct 16, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
AI isn’t just another tool. It changes how we work, how we think, how we organise ourselves.Yet most organisations still approach it like a digital upgrade, deploying assistants, automating workflows, testing use cases inisolation.The results are predictable. Short-term wins. Long-term confusion.Effort spent. Value unclear.Many companies can’t connect AI to their actual strategic goals,and the promised ROI never materialises.At the same time, something deeper is shifting.AI can now reason, decide, adapt. Not just mimic processes butcontribute to them.The technology is evolving, but the way we implement it hasn’tcaught up.If your AI still fits inside a single department, you’re likely solvingthe wrong problem.If it works only for individuals, you're missing how your teamsactually deliver value.If it replaces people instead of supporting them, you're buildingfor today, not tomorrow.The next step isn’t more AI. It’s the right AI.Built for your business, your teams, your way of working.Not a tool to add but a structure to build around.Are we ready to treat AI as a shared capability, not a scatteredexperiment?Can we move beyond individual efficiency and build systems thatcollaborate, learn and adapt with us?Those are the questions we’ll explore at the round table.
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Germany Oct 28, 2025 Country Members Physical german
Am 28. Oktober lädt CIONET CIOs und Digital Leaders nach Köln ein: hier stellen wir reale Anwendungsfälle vor, in denen KI-Agenten Aufgaben autonom übernehmen, Prozesse beschleunigen und Entscheidungen vorbereiten – mit messbarem Nutzen für das Business.
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France Nov 4, 2025 Country Members Physical french
À l’ère des mutations géopolitiques et réglementaires, l’établissement d’une souveraineté numérique est devenu un élément stratégique essentiel pour les entreprises. Ce dialogue stratégique mettra en lumière le rôle fondamental du réseau dans la mise en place du contrôle, de la confiance et de la résilience. Nous explorerons comment une infrastructure moderne et résiliente permet d’appliquer des politiques de gestion des données et d’assurer la continuité opérationnelle. Ce dialogue stratégique, réservé à un groupe restreint de pairs, est conçu pour permettre aux leaders du numérique d’échanger sur l’un des enjeux les plus urgents aujourd’hui. Nous discuterons des réseaux « sovereign-ready » et débattrons des préoccupations croissantes autour de la souveraineté des données, qui motivent l’adoption de politiques de confidentialité et de protection des données de plus en plus strictes à l’échelle mondiale.
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Netherlands Nov 10, 2025 Public Physical english
CIONET Nederland vertrekt met een groep Nederlandse CIO's en digital leaders 10 t/m 12 november 2025 voor de geheel verzorgde CIO Innovation Trip naar de Web Summit in Lissabon, Portugal. Reis jij mee of neem je collega(s) mee!
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How Bridgestone is using data to deliver sustainable and digital mobility solutions
Bridgestone, a global leader in tires and sustainable mobility solutions, is now looking at its future. Its EMIA Strategic Business Unit is currently undertaking a vast program of digital transformation aimed at improving operations, modernizing processes. Crucial to this has been the creation of an end-to-end data platform – named CAPPA
“Technology isn’t just the backbone of all we do – it’s a shared responsibility. It’s a constant reminder that we can change the world using digitalization, data and analytics.”
Bart Kerkhofs, Vice President IT at Bridgestone EMIA, is describing the digital and strategic transformation program that his company is undertaking – and the flagship project that’s making it succeed.
“We may historically be known around the world as a leading tire manufacturer, but we’re much more than that,” says Kerkhofs. “We are a data-driven company on a mission to address some of the mobility challenges of our generation.”
Over the past three years, Kerkhofs and his team have been working to contribute to this goal using data and technology. In collaboration with Microsoft, they’ve created an end-to-end data platform capable of storing, processing and analyzing key information – and then using it for strategic planning, modeling, forecasting and more.
All to help Bridgestone do more, with less – and become a center of excellence for digital and sustainable mobility solutions in the EMIA region and beyond.
“When this company was founded, more than 90 years ago, its motto was clear: Bridgestone will survive the test of time only if it focuses not just on profits, but on creating sustainable solutions to the society it operates in,” he continues.
“That’s what this project is all about: from tire-centric solutions to mobility and sustainability, we’re using data and technology to build an ecosystem of services that will truly make people’s lives easier and safer.”
From tire-centric solutions to mobility and sustainability, we’re using data and technology to build an ecosystem of services that will truly make people’s lives easier. - Bart Kerkhofs: Vice President IT - Bridgestone EMIA
Founded in Japan in 1931, Bridgestone is a global leader in tires and sustainable mobility solutions. Its Europe, Middle East, India and Africa division, where Bart Kerkhofs operates, is based in Belgium. It employs more than 20,000 people and conducts business in 40 countries across the region.
“Tire manufacturing is our heritage and core business,” says Kerkhofs. “But as a modern company, we know how important it is to evolve on the basis of that heritage, and to bring our values to the modern day.”
To honor this goal, the company recently launched a diversification program that looks at making Bridgestone not just a tire manufacturer, but rather a provider of mobility solutions. Within this framework, Bridgestone aims to become a sustainable solutions organization by 2050, supported by the Bridgestone E8 Commitment.
“Our strategy stems from the idea that being the largest tire manufacturer in the world, we generate unique information,” he explains.
"We like to say that we have a tire on every road at every hour, somewhere in the world. So what can we do with that position?”
The answer, they recently found out, lies in that very E8 Commitment – a framework of eight focus areas aiming to provide guidance on strategic priorities, decision making and actions throughout every area of the business and its operations.
From Efficiency to Empowerment and Energy, these focus areas have one common denominator: data.
“When we started looking at transforming our business, three years ago, we quickly realized that we couldn’t do it without data and digitalization,” explains Kerkhofs.
“Because we are a global company, we know that we generate large amounts of data that we could take enormous advantage of – but weren’t sure how we could capture it and really make the best of it.
“That was until we created CAPPA.”
The acronym for Collaborative Advanced Powerful Platform for Analytics, CAPPA is an end-to-end analytics platform that works as single point of truth for Bridgestone’s decision-making processes and strategies.
It is powered by a range of Microsoft technologies including Azure Databricks, Azure Purview and Azure Synapse Analytics. “CAPPA was born from the need to centralize all our information, harness key insights based on it and then use them to create meaningful change across our operations,” says Onkar Ambekar, Bridgestone EMIA Director of Data & Analytics.
“To do that, we decided to build a data lake where we can collect and store information from various parts of our business – from the tire and rubber business to the manufacturing side, the supply chain and so much more.”
Once the data is collected – using Azure Databricks – Bridgestone can then analyze it and leverage it to both drive internal efficiencies and improve customer services.
“Our supply chain is a prime example,” explains Ambekar. “Here, demand forecasting is crucial, as it allows us to prepare well ahead for any unforeseen circumstance, make sure that we have everything ready for future orders – and ultimately make our customers much happier.
“With CAPPA, we can use the data to anticipate anything – from availability and delivery times to tire wear and tire damage.”
This is proving particularly helpful for Bridgestone Mobility Solutions, a division of the company that is focusing on improving mobility with innovative and sustainable solutions.
“Through this division, we are running pilot projects with European cities to create pothole maps of certain areas, which cities can then use to oversee and carry out road repairs,” says Onkar Ambekar.
“Coupled with other road surface analytics, this can play a crucial role in urban planning for municipalities all around the world.”
Sustainability is at the heart of Bridgestone’s entire CAPPA initiative. “Most of the activities we carry out through our platform are either directly or indirectly feeding into our sustainability plans,” says Onkar Ambekar.
“From demand forecasting to ESG Reporting, data and analytics are crucial in making these plans succeed.”
He cites energy consumption as an example. “We’re currently overseeing more than 15 cases related to the manufacturing footprint across our plants,” he explains. “This is allowing us to significantly optimize overall efficiency.”
CAPPA is proving equally crucial when it comes to ESG Reporting, which concerns the disclosure of environmental, social and corporate governance data.
“Whenever we have to create our ESG dashboards, we can now capture all of our data from end to end,” explains Ambekar. “This means that we know how much energy is consumed, as well as how much we emit from our shipping and supply chain routes.”
But the benefits go way beyond Bridgestone’s internal operations. “If we have more accurate data, we can then combine it with forecasts and use it to provide more efficient fleet management systems, or anticipate tire wear to reduce fuel consumption,” he continues.
“This in turn allows us to consume less CO2 and generally have a better control of the energy we use and generate.”
As they look to the future of the CAPPA initiative, Ambekar and Kerkhofs are already planning to introduce more Microsoft solutions to their suite.
“We’re very proud of the work we’ve carried out with Microsoft,” says Ambekar. “The results we’re getting from CAPPA are simply outstanding.”
He mentions the enormous impact that Azure Purview – Microsoft’s unified data governance solution – is particularly having on its operations.
“Azure Purview has been a great help in documenting and cataloging the data that we have on this data lake,” he adds. “That is creating, in a way, a revolution within Bridgestone because now people from all the company have access to our data cataloging tool – meaning they can search where this data is and access it.”
Combined with all the other Azure components, this is paving the way for an even greater and more extended use of CAPPA across Bridgestone’s global operations.
“These and more projects are not only testament to what we’re doing in the present day, but also to what we’re working on for the future of our company,” says Kerkhofs.
“Using our data analytics center of excellence and the insights that we’re gaining, we can apply our solutions at a much broader, global scale and extend it to Bridgestone’s many other divisions.
“Making our company a true pioneer of sustainable mobility solutions.”
Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
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Sharon Prior - CIO in transition - How Great Tech Leadership Begins with Business Thinking
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José Antonio López, Group CIO at TOUS - Jewels, Data & AI: Inside the Digital Transformation of TOUS
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Tom Tanghe - General Manager ITC EMEA at Daikin Europe - Reinventing the CIO Role
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CIOFEST 2025 - From Order Taker to Proactive Disruptor
Geopolitical tensions have dominated the headlines for over two years now. In this context, the cyber threat landscape is also evolving rapidly. The protection and security of critical infrastructure – both physical and digital – is becoming increasingly important.
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