Allan Cockriel - Group CIO at ASML - On Leadership in the Agentic Era - CIOFEST Interview

 

The last generation of managers with a human-only workforce.

Let that sink in for a second.

 

If you think AI is just about a chatbot summarizing your emails, you are missing the tectonic shift happening right under your feet. We are officially entering the Agentic Era, where your next top performer might not even have a heartbeat.

In a candid, no-nonsense chat at CIOFEST, Daniel Eycken (COO of CIONET) sat down with Allan Cockriel (Group CIO at ASML) to do a hard reality check on where Agentic AI is actually driving value today, and where it’s just noise.

As the tech leader of a company anchoring the global semiconductor supply chain, Allan isn't just theorising—he’s putting agents into production.

Here are the raw takeaways every digital leader needs to digest right now:

1. Move over, test bench. Agents are in production.

ASML has been piloting this tech for 18 months. Today, autonomous agents are taking on the monotonous, high-risk tasks—like updating complex technical documentation, reconciling CAD designs, and rewriting manufacturing instructions. The result? Incredible accuracy where human error used to cost serious time.

2. Is the CIO the new HR Leader?

Managing a network of autonomous agents is entirely different from managing people. Allan raised a fascinating concept: the CIO now needs to act like an HR leader for the digital workforce. You need to define who the agent is, what they can access, and how long they can operate.

3. "Extremely interesting. Bit terrifying."

With open-source agent platforms moving at breakneck speed, the temptation to let teams "vibe-code" enterprise tools at scale is real. Allan’s take? You don't need to rebuild your legacy systems from scratch, but if your data, identity tracking, and security architecture aren't rock-solid, a network of autonomous agents will quickly become a corporate nightmare.

4. The Billion-Dollar Company of One

The ultimate game-changer? We are entering an era where an ambitious entrepreneur could arguably scale a billion-dollar company solo, simply because the agentic toolbox is that powerful. The big question for the C-suite: How do you unleash this hyper-innovation without completely obliterating your security posture? As Allan puts it: “Stay curious, but also stay safe.”

 

#CIOFest #AgenticAI #DigitalLeadership #CIONET #ASML #FutureOfWork #TechStrategy

Published on 21.05.2026


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