Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
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Belgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english
A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership.Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.This is more than a celebration—it’s an opportunity to reconnect, reflect, and recharge with your fellow digital leaders. Don't miss this exclusive experience packed with inspiring talks, networking opportunities, and special recognitions that highlight the best of CIONET’s history and future.Let’s celebrate the past, present, and future of the digital community you helped build.
Read MoreBelgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english
A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership. Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.
Read MoreBelgium 2-9-25 All TRIBERS Virtual english
You’ve been asked a simple question: “What does it cost to host this application?” But the answer is anything but simple. The platform sits across multiple data centres. The app spans a few VMs, shares a backup system, uses licensed monitoring, and touches five different teams. Your CMDB should help, but it’s rigid, outdated, or incomplete. And yet, you still need to provide a number, clear, explainable, and grounded in reality.
Read MoreBelgium 9-9-25 Squad Only Physical english
As Belgium navigates the complexities of GDPR and various data sovereignty regulations, organizations across multiple industries face both challenges and opportunities in managing their data across borders. The quest for compliance often intersects with the need for business growth, raising questions about the balance between protection and progress. How can companies effectively own and safeguard their data while ensuring compliance without stifling innovation and expansion in a multi-industry landscape?
Read MoreBelgium 11-9-25 Squad Only Virtual english
You’ve built the portal. Added the chatbot. Rolled out self-service. But your support lines are still ringing. And your frontline teams are still improvising. If you want digital services to feel seamless, not just look polished, this session brings you back to where value is felt: at the frontline.
Read MoreItaly 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.
Read MoreBelgium 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.
Read MoreGermany 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.
Read MoreFrance 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.
Read MoreNetherlands 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!
Read MoreItaly 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.
Read MoreBelgium 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.
Read MoreGermany 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.
Read MoreFrance 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.
Read MoreNetherlands 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!
Read MoreMercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal Digitally Transforms Complaints Management
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal, working with OutSystems partner ForTrevo, the company expanded its OutSystems-based customer portal with an integrated complaints management system, delivered within four weeks.
“Delivering a new complaints management system on OutSystems was a no-brainer given our situation. Delivery was much faster, especially as we could reuse the integration middleware from our OutSystems-powered customer portal.” - Renato SilvaCIO, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal
The operations department is the “engine room” of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal, as it’s the primary touchpoint throughout the customer lifecycle. Whether that’s onboarding customers, handling finance or insurance options, or resolving incidents or complaints, the 20 colleagues in operations are custodians of the customer experience.
In 2011, when Renato Silva joined Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal as IT manager, he inherited a monolithic customer and contract management system (“CMS”), which was hard to change. Waterfall implementation methods added risk and delay to improvements.
To improve the customer experience, the company needed a customer self-service portal to unify communications and provide a 360-degree view of customer interactions. Based on his previous experience before joining Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Renato knew that OutSystems would perfectly suit this portal project.
“I was confident that OutSystems would improve our agility by making development faster and easier. Moreover, there are ample OutSystems partners and consultants we can call on.” - Renato SilvaCIO, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal became an OutSystems customer in 2012 and delivered the first version of its customer portal in three months.
“We were ahead of our time,” says Renato. “The capabilities we provided were superior to any other car manufacturer’s financial services operation, and thanks to regular enhancements, the portal is still going strong ten years later.”
However, with a limited budget to extend the portal, the related area of complaints management remained out of scope for several years. Teresa Santos, operations director, takes up the story.
“As a financial services and insurance provider, certain complaints can quickly escalate if not responded to within strict deadlines. If the Bank of Portugal or the Portuguese insurance regulator becomes involved, the administrative effort and cost to resolve complaints climb steeply. So our old process, which relied on manual emails, a shared inbox, and a fragile spreadsheet, was a significant risk." - Teresa SantosOperations Director, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal
The pandemic crisis added considerable workload to the operations team, with economic strain fueling more complaints and increasing the risk of process and compliance failure.
The complexity of Mercedes-Benz’s complaints handling process placed a considerable training burden on the operations team. That and slow processing meant three operations team members worked full-time just managing complaints.
In late 2020, the operations team decided to overhaul the complaints management process with a digital solution integrated into its customer portal.
Over the previous three years, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal had used OutSystems Delivery Partner ForTrevo to enhance and extend the customer portal. “ForTrevo understands our business and is much easier to work with than other IT suppliers we’ve used before,” says Teresa. “Nowadays, they know us so well that they often anticipate things we need before we’ve thought of them.”
With such a successful working relationship, ForTrevo was the natural partner to deliver the complaints management solution.
“Building the complaints management solution on OutSystems was the obvious way forward. We needed to integrate customer and contract data into the new application. And as we’d used OutSystems to build the middleware that connected the portal with our CMS, we could reuse all that development when building the complaints management system." - Renato SilvaCIO, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal
Once the operations team and a solution architect from the IT team had scoped-out requirements, ForTrevo assigned one junior developer to build out the solution. A tech lead also assisted in the final stages of the project.
The complaints management solution was delivered in six weeks, including development, UAT, and deployment. “This was a big-bang deployment,” explains Joana Mourão, Tech Lead at ForTrevo. “The whole solution was released in the first deployment, with only minor enhancements needed since.”
ForTrevo's team designs and develops innovative web, reactive & mobile applications, using OutSystems platform. Our team of Certified OutSystems Developers is strongly skilled and committed to...
Learn more about ForTrevoThe complaints management solution went live in April 2021, with immediate benefits for customers, operations staff, and management.
Complaints are now fully managed in a built-for-purpose case management portal, which has replaced the shared inbox, tracker spreadsheet, and incident management system.
Now, the portal tracks all communication, and manually composed emails are a thing of the past. Case stages make the end-to-end process entirely measurable, with enforceable SLAs and alerts which cater for different complaint categories. This has eliminated the risk of regulatory concerns arising from human errors, missed emails, or spreadsheet glitches.
Managers benefit from detailed performance metrics presented in the portal’s dashboard. These include complaint cases at each process stage, SLA monitoring, average resolution time, and much more.
“Our new complaints portal drives like an AMG supercar. It’s fast and provides a brilliant user experience. It makes my job much easier, which leads to a better experience for our customers." - Susana SantosContract Management Specialist, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal
The improved ease of use has positively impacted operations, as Teresa explains. “Now everything is in one place, and the UI is consistent with the customer portal, it’s much easier to train staff to manage complaints. So staff rostering is much more flexible.”
Integration with the CMS and customer portal deliver numerous other benefits:
Measurable performance improvements include:
Moreover, the complaints management system supports Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal’s continuous improvement program. Now that the operations team has complete visibility of each complaint’s lifecycle, they can see where delays have occurred and raise process improvement proposals whenever needed.
The complaints process closes with a customer survey, so customer feedback enriches Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Portugal’s continuous improvement program.
Describing the difference that OutSystems makes to his team, Renato says, “OutSystems helps us work in a more agile way. For example, the built-in feedback facility used in our development and UAT environments shortens the feedback loop, so we can quickly make last-minute adjustments.”
Teresa agrees, “UAT is much easier and faster on OutSystems. I used the feedback feature a great deal when refining the dashboard UI, and ForTrevo’s developers implemented changes on the fly.”
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Embark on a culinary journey through the ever-evolving world of digital leadership with our third edition of the CIONET Cookbook: Recipes for Digital Success. Unveiling the intricate trilemma faced by today’s Master Chefs, our trailblazing European CIOs address a challenge at the nexus of customer interests, digital transformation strategies, and IT modernisation. Their secret? Synchronising the gearing between customer, business, and technology to create a frictionless movement through the digital landscape.
The CIONET Cookbook uses the analogy of a five-star restaurant to explain the importance of optimally integrated technology, with the CIO as Master Chef. In order to provide the best service to its customers, a top restaurant must have the right atmosphere, an inviting menu, a well-equipped kitchen, talented and committed front-of-house and kitchen staff and smooth-running processes that ensure an enjoyable experience for diners.
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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