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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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AB InBev GCC Uses Azure Synapse Analytics and Power BI for E2E Automation and Increasing Efficiency
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s largest brewer.For AB InBev, quick access to data and conclusions is crucial. Because the current platform is overloaded, the Command Center team created a short-term automated solution with Azure Synapse for Power BI to access data while migrating from the existing platform.platform, allowing stakeholders to still have access to their critical information.
Creating an Automated Foundation for Reporting
Since AB In-Bev was already using Power BI, choosing Azure Synapse to support their data platform made the most sense, as Synapse seamlessly integrates with Power BI and the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem.
The Command Center team used Azure SQL sandbox methodology - a method that allows the BI team to use the performance of SQL Sandbox for data transformations & calculations and use Power BI only for the visualization.
When building out the interim Azure SQL Sandbox solution, the first step was consolidating the data. To prevent the increase in manual work, a high priority was given to automate the movement of Excel files. Users across the organization upload their Excel files to a SharePoint drive. To ensure files were standardized before being used, an automated process via Logic apps, VBA validates the file format, file size, upload time, and more. Once all these features are validated, the file is posted to a new, restricted-access SharePoint folder. This ensures that data can't be moved or removed without proper access.
Figure 1 – High-level overview of AB InBev’s data flow
Once data is properly processed in the SharePoint folders, it’s temporarily moved into Azure Blob Storage’s high performance file system automatically using Azure Logic Apps. From there, Azure Synapse pipelines trigger stored procedures using dedicated SQL pools. This helps offset some of the loading time and improve Power BI performance. A SQL script is then run to create a final table of data and subsequently notify admins via e-mail that the table is ready. Based on a successful notification trigger, Power Automate will automatically refresh Power BI on the node and an automated email will be sent out to the SME to approve release of the Dashboard.
By using Azure Synapse pipelines, AB InBev’s Command Center team was able to automate what before was a very time-consuming part of their ETL pipeline and reduce refresh times by 91%. Synapse effortlessly works with tools like Logic Apps, Power Automate and Power BI to easily bring together all their data sources and ensure the data which users rely on is high-quality and accessible.
Bringing Real-Time Insights to All Corners of AB InBev
With this new data platform and pilot, the team was able to take this solution forward for all complex reporting while they waited for long term data migration to be completed. For AB InBev, Power BI fit their organizational needs by handling different data sources, providing increased efficiency, and reducing operational costs.
One of AB-InBev’s most used dashboards is the Rate & Mix dashboard. The Rate & Mix dashboard tracks the mix of Brand, SKU, Variant and Price. Volume metrics highlight how many products were sold and the Rate highlights the price at which product was sold and whether the product was discounted or not. With this product, the Commercial, FP&A and Revenue Management teams can use these metrics to understand how products are performing in the markets. The products has multiple tabs that enable deep dives and further analysis.
Figure 2 – The Rate Mix Waterfall View provides a general overview of which Mix is driving maximum results and which ones are not performing well
The ease of use with Power BI visuals has empowered individuals across AB InBev to easily access insights to aid decision making and help react to the market quicker.
Building an Insight-Driven Future
Adoption of Power BI across AB InBev involved gradual growth lead by a top-down approach. While many individuals were hesitant to learn a new tool, advocacy from leadership and seeing the effectiveness of Power BI convinced users of the value of Power BI and how it could improve their daily workflow. With the influx of Power BI users, AB InBev built a Power BI Center of Excellence to build products enabling insights across the AB InBev ecosystem.
AB InBev is looking to bring together all their data into one data lake within the next 3-5 years. By consolidating their data pipeline, they plan to fully automate their data flow and improve performance even more. AB InBev is constantly growing and as a result, the organization is always pushing to build a single source of the truth and bring disparate data sources and tools together. Unifying all their data into one data lake will set AB InBev up for easy data integration.
With an automated back end supported by Azure Synapse and Data visualization supported by Power BI, AB InBev has the powerful, competitive edge that empowers users to focus on decision making and react to the market even quicker.
Disclaimer –This post represents the personal views and opinions of the team members involved, based on their experience, and does not necessarily represent the view and opinion of AB InBev. No Warranties, Promises and/or representations of any kind, expressed or implied, are given as to the nature, standard, accuracy or otherwise of the information provided in this article nor to the suitability or otherwise of the information to your particular circumstances. AB InBev is not liable for any loss or damage of whatever nature (direct, indirect, consequential or other) whether arising in contract, tort or otherwise, which may arise from your use of the information in this article, which is provided as is and without any warranties.
Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
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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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