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CIONET - What's next

Connecting ambitious digital leaders and businesses around the globe.

Catch up on the upcoming CIONET Events

             
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Italy Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian

Innovation in Balance: governing the power of data and automation

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

CIONET Round Table - Rethinking AI

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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Poland Oct 17, 2025 Invitation Only Physical & Virtual Polish

IT EXECUTIVE MASTERCLASS 5

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Germany Oct 28, 2025 Country Members Physical german

Köln: Powershift

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

Maîtriser la souveraineté numérique: du réseau à la donnée

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

Reis mee: CIO Innovation trip Web Summit 11 nov 2025 Lissabon

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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Recent Cases

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Al Ghurair reinforces cybersecurity resilience with Trend Micro

Al Ghurair Investment faced growing cyber threats during its digital transformation. Trend Micro's integrated security solutions protected its data and ensured business continuity.

OVERVIEW

Al Ghurair Investment is one of the largest diversified family business groups in the Middle East. The company operates in six distinct industry sectors: food and resources, properties, construction, energy, mobility, and ventures. Established as a small trading business in 1960, when pearl diving and fishing were the mainstays in the country, the company has woven itself into the very fabric of the nation. Al Ghurair has fostered a proud history of innovation and entrepreneurship and continues to build upon its legacy, which is rooted in a solid commitment to facilitate meaningful and sustainable change, all guided by a single idea: ‘Enhancing Life.’

The company’s current IT environment combines solutions and services from Microsoft and AWS. Its mission is to protect Al Ghurair’s digital environment from today’s sophisticated cybersecurity threats.

 
 

CHALLENGES

Headquartered in Deira, the heart of Dubai, the Al Ghurair family name is synonymous with the development of the region, as the company’s operations span more than 20 countries across the globe through various sectors. With approximately 28,000 employees, the company manages a high number of endpoints.

As the company grew, Al Ghurair needed to mitigate cybersecurity risks that organizations of its size face within the IT infrastructure. Due to its high volume of operations, the situation demanded multi-layered cybersecurity solutions. This would enable Al Ghurair to leverage full visibility and protection of endpoints and cloud operations while safeguarding its networks from the risks of modern-day cyber threats. In addition, the company required complete visibility throughout its digital environment from a single, centralized console.

“Protecting our digital infrastructure was a key priority, especially through our accelerated digital transformation program,” says IT Security Specialist for Al Ghurair Investment, Kamran Manzoor. “We needed to shield our growth and operations, so it was crucial we selected a security vendor whom we could trust to tirelessly keep our organization safe from the modern threat landscape with cutting-edge solutions. And Trend Micro proved to be the trusted partner we were looking for."

 

We continue to benefit from solutions such as Trend Micro Apex One, and the incredibly robust Trend Micro Vision One with Managed XDR, that has fortified our security posture.

Kamran Manzoor

IT Security Specialist, Al Ghurair Investment

 
 

WHY TREND

With over 3,000 end users, Al Ghurair needed to adopt security solutions that safeguarded the transformation process and bolsters its digital framework, protecting all its operations from cloud to edge. The company required a robust, automated, insightful, all-in-one cybersecurity solution that protected the brand from evolving cyber threats. This would allow Al Ghurair to keep up with its reputation and commitment to the region. This convinced the company to turn to Trend Micro because of its standout performances in cybersecurity as a Gartner Magic Quadrant™ Leader, particularly from its centralized SOC service.

Trend Micro’s ongoing relationship with Al Ghurair instilled confidence within the organization, knowing it would receive high-quality solutions and services in a structured manner. There was no second-guessing or room for doubt when adopting industry-leading solutions that were tried and tested. The company’s security teams were determined to utilize the best cyber defense tools and strategies that provided fast detection and faster responses, thus assuring that operations were always stable.

“In today’s accelerated digital era with an emphasis on cloud operations, cybersecurity will always remain a part of our growth strategy going forward,” says Group Vice President, Information Technology, with Al Ghurair Investment, Marinda Sheahan. We must secure our digital environments so that our emp loyees can fulfill their duties in the safest way possible. With Trend Micro, we are more confident than ever in protecting our IT infrastructures and are prepared for future challenges in our digital transformation journeys.”

 

With Trend Micro, we are more confident than ever in protecting our IT infrastructures and are prepared for future challenges in our digital transformation journeys.

Marinda Sheahan

Group Vice President, Information Technology, Al Ghurair Investment

 
 

SOLUTION

Trend Micro Vision One with Managed XDR enabled Al Ghurair to detect and respond across more security layers. This solution allowed security teams to gain total control over the digital infrastructure and detect threats with industry-leading XDR capabilities.

In addition, Al Ghurair incorporated solutions—including Trend Micro Email Security, Trend Micro Service One, and Deep Discovery Inspector—into their cybersecurity strategy. Email Security detects and blocks advanced threats, as layered protection guards against persistent and targeted attacks from ransomware and other unidentified malware with enhanced efficiency.

Adding to the technical benefits is Trend Micro’s collaborative environment, its rapid response to threats, and its’ always-prepared support team.

 
 

RESULTS

By incorporating Trend Micro security solutions, Al Ghurair is now able to stop complex attacks before they impact users. In addition, the company has improved IT security management efficiency and compliance and leverage greater visibility across the threat landscape. With an increased response time of up to 70%, XDR sensors across email, endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and networks identify and correlate activities to produce high-confidence detection—with the power to search, investigate, analyze, and respond from a single console. This has provided a centralized view of all threats and risks for greater ease of management, leading to a simplified approach to investigations and the ability to take immediate action.

 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

Al Ghurair is looking to tackle data sharing challenges by limiting or restricting uploads to data sharing platforms. This will provide the company with brand image protection (as their brand domain has been recently spoofed for malicious purposes), cybersecurity awareness at a group level, and the ability to uncover and protect more zero-day attacks and vulnerabilities. This level of holistic security gives Al Ghurair more tools to protect their digital assets against geo-targeted phishing attacks and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups, while achieving greater visibility through code deployment and DevOps.

 

Partners

Checkout our CIONET COOKBOOK

cookbook

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.

CIONET TV

 
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Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge

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Isabelle Droll - CIO for Airline, Corporate, Hotels & Resorts and Sustainability at TUI - Data, Diversity, and Destinations

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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

CIONET Reports

 
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Cybersecurity in critical infrastructure

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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HDS - From Hype to Reality Navigating the Challenges of GenAI

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Integration In An Era Of AI: Challenges And Opportunities

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About CIONET

CIONET’s mission is to help IT executives become more at ease and above all more successful in their jobs. So they can do more than just keep up with change but ultimately define it. CIONET opens up a whole new universe of opportunities in IT management.

With the largest membership of corporate digital leaders across Europe, Latin America, US and Australia, CIONET has the expertise and pioneering vision to solve or address any IT management challenge.

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From our local and global events, from our publications and research to our executive education programmes, everything we do is aimed at making sure digital leaders maximise their potential.

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