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Belgium 01-10-2026 Squad Only Virtual english

Letting Teams Build Safely with Low-Code, No-Code, and AI Tools. ; How to enable business-led development while keeping security, architecture, and support under control.

Low-code, no-code, and AI tools are giving business teams more ability to build solutions themselves. The challenge is setting the right boundaries before fast local solutions become important operational assets. Three pressure points need attention. - Boundaries must be clear: teams need to know what they can build alone and what requires IT, security, or architecture review. - Supportability matters when a quick solution becomes business-critical. - Risk control remains necessary around data access, compliance, security, process dependency, and maintenance. The working question is simple: how do we enable business-led development while keeping security, ownership, and support under control? If you are trying to enable this safely, let’s compare approaches with others facing the same balance.

Belgium 06-10-2026 All Members Physical english

The Token Trap: Reclaiming Control of Enterprise AI

As enterprise AI transitions from experimental Proofs of Concept (POCs) into real implementations, digital leaders are encountering a shared challenge: consumption-based public cloud token billing models do not fit neatly into traditional IT budgeting. Daily token consumption can rise unexpectedly, pushing expenses through the roof while arbitrary caps quickly kill momentum for innovation. For many CIOs, this raises an open strategic question: How do we keep costs under control while further stimulating innovation? During this interactive CIONET roundtable, we will explore among peers how to navigate AI tokenomics. Rather than treating public cloud LLMs as the default path, we will investigate how different execution environments, ranging from hybrid cloud setups and targeted on-premise models to specialised edge hardware, can help balance cost with performance. This session is intentionally designed as an open peer-to-peer exchange; a space to compare notes, challenge current ways of working and architectural setups, and discuss practical approaches to building predictable, scalable AI models.

Belgium 08-10-2026 All Members Physical english

The Permanent (R)evolution

Every large organisation has been through a major transformation, and most through several. The word transformation is misleading because it suggests a beginning and an end. But organisations that do well are the ones that have given up on the idea of arriving and realise that constant change has become the new norm, and missing a single cycle leaves you permanently behind. This evening, two leaders will share how they think about this, coming from opposite directions. John Porter led Telenet through a sustained period of reinvention spanning the pandemic, a full reorganisation into tribes, M&A, and a shift to a performance driven culture. Along the way, the IT department was dissolved and technology was embedded inside autonomous tribes that run as small businesses. There is no CIO at Telenet. It is Telenet Group’s purpose to become a digital-first, customer-centric organisation. To deliver on this ambition, it has embarked on a transformation journey built on three pillars: (i) the implementation of a scaled-agile operating model (organisation), (ii) the acceleration of digitisation and automation underpinned by optimised IT systems, platforms, and strategic technology partnerships (digitisation), and (iii) a performance leadership culture focused on accountability, ownership, and a change mindset (culture). Kris Vervaet, on the other hand, has just become CIO at KBC, the bank whose mobile app has been ranked best in the world three times and whose AI assistant Kate now handles 70% of customer queries on its own. But Kris is no ordinary CIO: he ran DPG Media Belgium as CEO, and KBC went looking for someone who has led transformation rather than someone who manages technology. So while one organisation got rid of the CIO role, the other reinvented it, and both are thriving. The conversation will range across organisational and IT redesign, the rise of digital-first customer experience, the impact of AI on how every business is run, and the harder questions of culture, talent and leadership. The question for every leader in the room is what that tells you about your own role, your own operating model, and the pace at which you are prepared to keep evolving.

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Siemens connects frontline workers and engineers for real-time problem-solving using Azure AI

Siemens Digital Industries Software saw the need to enable better communication and collaboration for the industrial companies that use its software. The company envisioned an AI-powered collaborative app to help people solve challenges together, and feel more connected and included as part of the larger organization. Siemens DI decided to work with Microsoft, and to use Microsoft Azure AI.

Accelerating groundbreaking transformation for industrial and manufacturing customers is the driving force behind Siemens Digital Industries Software.

A division of Siemens AG, a German multinational technology conglomerate, Siemens Digital Industries Software provides a comprehensive portfolio of cutting-edge software, hardware, and services for design, manufacturing and product lifecycle management across industries such as automotive, aerospace, machinery, battery, medical, consumer products, marine, energy, and semiconductor.

With products becoming increasingly smart and connected, Siemens Digital Industries Software saw the need to help its customers improve cross-functional communication. The company envisioned an AI-powered collaborative app to help people working across product lifecycles close feedback loops faster, solve challenges together, and feel more connected to the larger organization.

Making problem reporting easy

Siemens Digital Industries Software has long collaborated to support customers using Siemens software together with Microsoft solutions including Microsoft Teams. At many companies, shop floor workers do their best to type and report issues as they could. “But imagine you’re on a fast-paced factory line and you see a problem. Maybe you have gloves on, maybe you’re not speaking a language that is the same language as the software that has been implemented to track that line,” says Joe Bohman, Executive Vice President of PLM Products at Siemens Digital Industries Software “The reality is problems won’t be reported if it’s too hard.”

With a long-standing relationship between Siemens and Microsoft—over 35 years of joint innovation—it was a natural choice for Siemens Digital Industries Software to work with Microsoft and use Microsoft Azure AI to produce an innovative solution for their customers. Together, the companies created a Microsoft Teams app for their Teamcenter software, Siemens’ industry-leading product lifecycle management (PLM) solution. Designed specifically to improve communications across the product lifecycle, the solution builds upon the collaborative platform of Teams, with the language model capabilities in Azure OpenAI Service and cutting-edge capabilities in Azure AI Studio, including prompt flow.

Siemens Digital Industries Software customers had been relying on the user-friendly features of Teams like push notifications to simplify workflow approvals, reduce the time it takes to request design changes, and speed up innovation cycles. But issues that could turn into larger problems were getting missed because reporting often happened later in the product development process or not at all. Siemens developers combined Teams capabilities with Azure AI and its comprehensive suite of tools, including prompt flow in Azure Machine Learning, to streamline workflows that included prototyping, deployment, and service production.

Empowering workers to shape design and process

Now Siemens Digital Industries Software customers will be able to use the app’s “Tell Me” feature on their mobile device to document issues and report concerns using natural speech in real time. With Azure AI, the app can parse informal speech data no matter the language, automatically creating a summarized report and routing it within Teamcenter to the appropriate design, engineering, or manufacturing experts—in the specific language they require.

The solution is currently in pilot form with a few Siemens Digital Industries Software customers. Solution’s official release set for December 2023.

“We feel Azure AI and Azure AI Studio are powerful and inclusive tools that align with our values of innovation and transformation that empowers people,” says Joe Bohman, Executive Vice President of PLM Products at Siemens Digital Industries Software “We’ve had a long history working with Microsoft, and we’re happy to move into the next era of ongoing AI innovation together.”

Technologies

Azure AI services Azure AI Studio

CIONET Business Circles

Cyber Circle

CIONET’s Cyber Circle: a new three-event programme exclusively focusing on the most urgent, complex, and high-impact challenges in cybersecurity today. Launched in 2026, this initiative brings together CISOs, CIOs, and senior IT executives with a strong interest in cybersecurity for three curated gatherings each year. As part of CIONET’s trusted executive community, the Cyber Circle provides a confidential, peer-driven environment to exchange insights, share real-world experiences, and address evolving cyber threats. Each session is designed to foster strategic dialogue, strengthen resilience, and elevate cybersecurity as a core driver of business value.

Telenet Business Leadership Circle

The Telenet Business Leadership Circle powered by CIONET, offers a platform where IT executives and thought leaders can meet to inspire each other and share best practices. We want to be a facilitator who helps you optimise the performance of your IT function and your business by embracing the endless opportunities that digital change brings.

Les Rencontres

Découvrez la dynamique du leadership numérique aux Rencontres de CIONET, le programme francophone exclusif de CIONET pour les leaders numériques en Belgique, rendu possible grâce au soutien et à l'engagement de nos partenaires de programme : Deloitte, Denodo et Red Hat. Rejoignez trois événements inspirants par an à Liège, Namur et en Brabant Wallon, où des CIOs et des experts numériques francophones de premier plan partagent leurs perspectives et expériences sur des thèmes d'affaires et de IT actuels. Laissez-vous inspirer et apprenez des meilleurs du secteur lors de sessions captivantes conçues spécialement pour soutenir et enrichir votre rôle en tant que CIO pair. Ne manquez pas cette opportunité de faire partie d'un réseau exceptionnel d'innovateurs numériques !

Female Leadership Circle

CIONET is committed to highlighting and celebrating female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, creating a leadership programme that empowers and elevates women within the tech industry. This initiative is dedicated to showcasing the achievements and successes of leading women, fostering an environment where female role models are recognised, and their contributions can ignite progress and inspire the next generation of women in IT. Our mission is to shine the spotlight a little brighter on female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, and to empower each other through this inner network community.