Gunter Van Craen - CDIO at Bekaert - Embracing Digital Transformation

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Poland 17-12-25 Invitation Only Virtual Polish
Podczas sesji zobaczymy, jak jeden z największych banków w Polsce rozszerzył swoje praktyki controllingowe o FinOps i zbudował model pracy oparty na wspólnych danych finansowych, technicznych i biznesowych. Robert Skica z Crédit Agricole opowie, jak skalować FinOps w oparciu o dane z controllingu tak, aby wspierał produkty i projekty, zamiast działać obok nich. Uczestnicy poznają też praktyczne sposoby mierzenia adopcji chmury oraz tempo wzrostu jej wykorzystania. Na koniec zaprosimy do dyskusji o tym, jak AI i agenci mogą wspierać zespoły FinOps w optymalizacji zasobów chmurowych.
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Belgium 18-12-25 Invitation Only Physical english
We look forward to brainstorming with you on how we can strengthen meaningful engagement among our participants, create valuable opportunities for visibility, foster peer-to-peer networking, and deliver impactful content. Your expertise and guidance will help shape our strategy for the coming year and ensure that we continue to provide the best possible value to our entire community. Together, we can build a stronger, more connected community that benefits us all.
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Belgium 13-1-26 Squad Only Virtual english
Migrating legacy systems to the cloud remains one of the toughest balancing acts in IT. Every choice affects stability, cost, and trust at once, and what starts as a modernisation effort quickly turns into a negotiation between ambition and reality. Suddenly budgets rise, dependencies appear late, and timelines tighten as old architectures collide with new expectations. In the end, success depends on sequencing, ownership, and aligning business priorities with infrastructure limits, and not only on technical readiness. Making it work requires more than a plan on paper. Knowing which systems genuinely belong in the cloud, which can wait, and which should stay put shapes the entire roadmap and defines its success. Each refactoring decision sets the level of future flexibility, but it also drives cost and risk. The trade-offs between speed, sustainability, and resilience only become clear once migration begins and pressure builds. Let’s discuss how to plan migrations that stay on track, manage hidden dependencies, and handle downtime with confidence. Let’s also discuss how governance, testing, and vendor coordination keep progress visible and credible. Are you in? A closed conversation for those who turn cloud migration from a disruption into a long-term advantage.
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Germany 19-1-26 Country Members Virtual german
Bei diesem „Spotlight“-Online-Event wird diskutiert, wie moderne Identity Security im Zeitalter autonomer KI-Agenten gestaltet werden kann. Teilnehmende erfahren, wie KI-Agenten als eigene Identitäten verwaltet werden, wie korrekte Zugriffsrechte für Mensch und Maschine sichergestellt werden und wie Zero-Standing-Risk-Ansätze vor modernen Bedrohungen schützen. Praxisnahe Einblicke unterstützen Unternehmen dabei, ihre Identity-Programme zukunftssicher auszurichten.
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Belgium 20-1-26 All Members Physical english
CIOs today are being judged less as technology leaders and more as portfolio managers. Every euro is under scrutiny. Boards and CFOs demand lower run costs, higher efficiency, and clear ROI from every digital initiative. Yet, they also expect CIOs to place bets on disruptive technologies that will keep the enterprise competitive in five years. This constant tension is redefining the role. In this session, we go beyond FinOps and cost reporting to tackle the strategic financial dilemmas CIOs face.
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Switzerland 20-1-26 Country Members Physical english
UK Dec 16, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
At this CIONET executive roundtable – brought to you in association with UiPath – we’ll explore this question and more. Bringing together senior IT professionals from across multiple vertical markets, we will focus on the benefits of agentic AI as applied to end-to-end processes. And we’ll seek to understand how organisations might overcome automation barriers to drive greater value creation.
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Belgium Dec 18, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
We look forward to brainstorming with you on how we can strengthen meaningful engagement among our participants, create valuable opportunities for visibility, foster peer-to-peer networking, and deliver impactful content. Your expertise and guidance will help shape our strategy for the coming year and ensure that we continue to provide the best possible value to our entire community. Together, we can build a stronger, more connected community that benefits us all.
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Germany Jan 19, 2026 Country Members Virtual german
Bei diesem „Spotlight“-Online-Event wird diskutiert, wie moderne Identity Security im Zeitalter autonomer KI-Agenten gestaltet werden kann. Teilnehmende erfahren, wie KI-Agenten als eigene Identitäten verwaltet werden, wie korrekte Zugriffsrechte für Mensch und Maschine sichergestellt werden und wie Zero-Standing-Risk-Ansätze vor modernen Bedrohungen schützen. Praxisnahe Einblicke unterstützen Unternehmen dabei, ihre Identity-Programme zukunftssicher auszurichten.
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Belgium Jan 20, 2026 All Members Physical english
CIOs today are being judged less as technology leaders and more as portfolio managers. Every euro is under scrutiny. Boards and CFOs demand lower run costs, higher efficiency, and clear ROI from every digital initiative. Yet, they also expect CIOs to place bets on disruptive technologies that will keep the enterprise competitive in five years. This constant tension is redefining the role. In this session, we go beyond FinOps and cost reporting to tackle the strategic financial dilemmas CIOs face.
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Switzerland Jan 20, 2026 Country Members Physical english
Gain insights into key strategies for achieving IT resilience and network with peers in the intimate setting of the NapaGrill Circle Room in Zürich.
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UK Jan 21, 2026 Invitation Only Physical english
This event is ideal for senior IT decision makers looking to effectively manage their IT estate in order to drive greater efficiencies and deliver increased business value. Join us for an evening of insightful conversation and great company among industry peers and experts.
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UK Dec 16, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
At this CIONET executive roundtable – brought to you in association with UiPath – we’ll explore this question and more. Bringing together senior IT professionals from across multiple vertical markets, we will focus on the benefits of agentic AI as applied to end-to-end processes. And we’ll seek to understand how organisations might overcome automation barriers to drive greater value creation.
Read More
Belgium Dec 18, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
We look forward to brainstorming with you on how we can strengthen meaningful engagement among our participants, create valuable opportunities for visibility, foster peer-to-peer networking, and deliver impactful content. Your expertise and guidance will help shape our strategy for the coming year and ensure that we continue to provide the best possible value to our entire community. Together, we can build a stronger, more connected community that benefits us all.
Read More
Germany Jan 19, 2026 Country Members Virtual german
Bei diesem „Spotlight“-Online-Event wird diskutiert, wie moderne Identity Security im Zeitalter autonomer KI-Agenten gestaltet werden kann. Teilnehmende erfahren, wie KI-Agenten als eigene Identitäten verwaltet werden, wie korrekte Zugriffsrechte für Mensch und Maschine sichergestellt werden und wie Zero-Standing-Risk-Ansätze vor modernen Bedrohungen schützen. Praxisnahe Einblicke unterstützen Unternehmen dabei, ihre Identity-Programme zukunftssicher auszurichten.
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Belgium Jan 20, 2026 All Members Physical english
CIOs today are being judged less as technology leaders and more as portfolio managers. Every euro is under scrutiny. Boards and CFOs demand lower run costs, higher efficiency, and clear ROI from every digital initiative. Yet, they also expect CIOs to place bets on disruptive technologies that will keep the enterprise competitive in five years. This constant tension is redefining the role. In this session, we go beyond FinOps and cost reporting to tackle the strategic financial dilemmas CIOs face.
Read More
Switzerland Jan 20, 2026 Country Members Physical english
Gain insights into key strategies for achieving IT resilience and network with peers in the intimate setting of the NapaGrill Circle Room in Zürich.
Read More
UK Jan 21, 2026 Invitation Only Physical english
This event is ideal for senior IT decision makers looking to effectively manage their IT estate in order to drive greater efficiencies and deliver increased business value. Join us for an evening of insightful conversation and great company among industry peers and experts.
Read MorePaf’s engineering team creates 85 custom GPTs to surge developer productivity
Paf adopted ChatGPT Enterprise across its entire company, with engineers using custom GPTs on a daily basis to speed up routine development tasks. Paf also integrated ChatGPT Enterprise into the grit:lab coding academy. 70% of Paf employees actively use ChatGPT Enterprise, spanning business teams like finance, HR, marketing, and customer support.
Paf is an international gaming company founded in 1966 in the Åland Islands by the Red Cross, Save the Children, and Folkhälsan, and is an industry leader in responsible gaming. With around 315 employees from 29 countries, Paf has contributed over 447.5 million euros to benefit society since it was founded.
As an organization committed to staying ahead of the technology curve, Paf recognized the transformative potential of AI early on. When generative AI began gaining traction, the company swiftly adopted and evaluated various AI systems to understand how this technology could propel its employees and business operations forward.
In their search for the ideal generative AI solution, Paf experimented with LLAMA, Claude and GPT-4. When the team conducted head-to-head accuracy and cost comparisons, GPT-4 was 25% more accurate than competitors, without being more expensive. Paf decided to use GPT-4 as its AI solution.

Paf rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise to the entire team of 100 developers, and now finds ChatGPT Enterprise indispensable for their daily tasks. “I use ChatGPT 20 times a day for tasks like boilerplate code creation or learning a new programming language,” says frontend developer Krista Koivisto. In addition to using ChatGPT Enterprise for general coding assistance, the engineering team has created over 85 custom GPTs to support specific use cases.
One of the engineering team’s favorite applications of custom GPTs is a suite of specialized coding GPTs that help streamline the development process, from creating backend infrastructure to generating frontend components:
Swagger GPT converts Swagger JSON API definitions into TypeScript service endpoint definitions per Paf’s coding standards.
TypeScript GPT writes the backend service code using the endpoint definitions, reusing existing session validation functions.
GraphQL Nexus GPT generates GraphQL Nexus schemas, integrating existing helper functions to interact with the frontend.
Relay GPT creates the React Relay hooks using GraphQL Nexus schemas for communicating with our backends.
React GPT writes React components using Paf’s React and TypeScript style guidelines and core component library.
Swagger GPT converts Swagger JSON API definitions into TypeScript service endpoint definitions per Paf’s coding standards.
TypeScript GPT writes the backend service code using the endpoint definitions, reusing existing session validation functions.
GraphQL Nexus GPT generates GraphQL Nexus schemas, integrating existing helper functions to interact with the frontend.
Relay GPT creates the React Relay hooks using GraphQL Nexus schemas for communicating with our backends.
React GPT writes React components using Paf’s React and TypeScript style guidelines and core component library.
“Focused GPTs avoid overloading models and curb hallucinations,” says Koivisto. “We automatically generate functioning boilerplate implementations with far less effort.” By chaining tailored GPTs together instead of relying on the general model, Paf's developers can quickly generate accurate, standardized application flows and APIs nearly automatically.
Building on its success with the development team’s custom GPTs, Paf has integrated ChatGPT Enterprise into the grit:lab coding academy to accelerate training for 65 aspiring developers. Grit:lab students use ChatGPT for a variety of coding-related tasks, including:
Understanding new programming concepts
Debugging code errors efficiently
Learning syntax and structure across different languages
Generating test data quickly
This AI-augmented software development approach is creating a new breed of software developer, one who has more systems architect knowledge from the start. “Using ChatGPT, the junior developers think at a higher, systematic level,” says Kim Gripenberg, a DevOps engineer, noting that both grit:lab students and junior developers at Paf progress years faster with AI assistance. Instead of getting bogged down in syntax errors and coding basics, developers can focus on the overall application and system design.

In the next year, Paf plans to fully integrate ChatGPT Enterprise and the OpenAI API into all of its processes. “AI is here to stay. Either you are on the train,” says Fredrik Wiklund, Chief Technology Officer, “or you are back at the station, watching it leave.” The company envisions GPTs eventually handling more coding tasks like writing, testing, and deploying software, freeing up developers to focus on higher-level, systems-level work.
This AI-augmented approach will allow Paf to innovate with a velocity similar to that of a much larger company. By integrating generative AI into every part of its business, Paf is set to maximize its positive impact for employees, customers, and communities it serves.
“We estimate ChatGPT is doing the equivalent work of 12 full time employees,” commented Wiklund. “The impact to our business has exceeded our expectations, and this is only the start.”

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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.
To better understand industry sentiment – and to assess the barriers and opportunities on the path to adoption – CIONET, in partnership with Thoughtworks, brought together a dozen IT leaders for an in-depth discussion on Agentic AI in financial services.
Throughout the Coping in Chaos series from Cognizant, Google Cloud and CIONET, the goal has remained the same: to understand how volatility – economic, geopolitical, and technological – impacts today’s IT leaders and the businesses they serve. In the third event of the series, a dozen or more senior technology leaders considered the customer. Coping in chaos. Navigating Market Dynamics explored how uncertainty is affecting consumer behaviour and how, in turn, that changing behaviour requires a response.
The role of the CIO has evolved from managing systems to shaping outcomes: growth, resilience, and competitive edge are now won or lost in the technology arena. Today ’ s CIOs must balance stability with innovation, control costs while attracting scarce talent, and modernise legacy infrastructure while adopting emerging technologies.
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IT Director, IT Thinker
Vice president IT & Compliance, VisionaryRCM (A Carlyle Grp Company)
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