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Belgium 21-4-26 Invitation Only Physical english

From Victim to Victor: Cyber resilience is a means, providing Business Continuity the goal

In an era where every outage, audit, and cyberattack is a test of organisational survival, resilience has become the new currency of trust. While traditional perimeter security with: firewalls, intrusion detection, and scanners, remains essential, it is no longer a sufficient guarantee against modern threats that bypass these layers to penetrate your core systems. Today, enterprises require security and continuity that are built-in, not bolted-on. This CIONET roundtable focuses on the shift from reactive disaster recovery to proactive Business Continuity. Together with experts from HPE Zerto, we will explore how organisations can transform their recovery strategies into seamless continuity models.

Belgium 23-4-26 Country Members Physical & Virtual english

CIOFEST BELGIUM: Leadership in the Agentic Era

AI is no longer confined to supporting human tasks. We are entering the agentic era, where autonomous systems act on behalf of people and organisations. These agents can gather information, make decisions, negotiate terms, and even complete transactions. The implications extend well beyond technology; they touch the very foundations of business models, governance, and leadership. For CIOs and their peers, the rise of “machine customers” and autonomous partners poses new questions: Market impact: How do you compete and create value when some customers and suppliers are machines? Governance: What trust, compliance, and accountability structures are needed when AI acts independently in financial, procurement, or customer-facing processes? Leadership: How should CIOs guide their organisations in redefining roles, responsibilities, and decision-making when agents take over parts of the value chain?Business strategy: What opportunities emerge for new revenue models, platforms, and ecosystems shaped by autonomous interaction? This session shifts the focus from the mechanics of AI agents to the decisions that will shape leadership in the next decade. It is a call for CIOs to prepare for a future where relationships, markets, and strategies are no longer limited to human-to-human interactions, but also extend to human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions.

Belgium 29-4-26 Invitation Only Physical english

Building Future-Ready Application Ecosystems in the Age of Intelligent Automation

This CIONET workshop is a collaborative deep-dive into the practicalities of"rewiring the building" while it’s still occupied. Drawing onKyndryl’s deep heritage in mission-critical infrastructure and their latestresearch, we will dismantle the "hidden costs" of legacyenvironments. The conversation will focus on the transition from static,monolithic structures to composable architectures that allow intelligent agentsto operate seamlessly across hybrid landscapes.

April 2, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

Taming the SaaS Sprawl: Tracking spend, ownership, and usage before it slips out of control

SaaS gave business units freedom: quick onboarding, no infrastructure, and instant results. But over time, that freedom turned into fragmentation. Each team now buys, renews, and configures its own stack. HR has one platform, finance has another, and marketing probably has ten. The invoices keep coming, usage keeps dropping, and no one is sure who’s accountable for what.

May 12, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Product-Centric IT 2.0: Blending product and project thinking

Everyone says they’ve gone product-centric. In reality, most organisations live in a hybrid world where projects, products, and platforms overlap. Teams manage releases while still chasing deadlines, and governance still thinks in milestones rather than outcomes. The shift is underway, but the mindset hasn’t caught up.

May 19, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

AI vs AI in Cybersecurity: When defenders and attackers both use AI

The game has changed, clearly. Attackers have AI, defenders have AI, and both sides are learning faster than anyone expected, or maybe the attackers are just a bit faster. What used to take hours now happens in seconds, and detection windows close before alerts even appear. It’s adaptation beyond automation, and no one gets to sit still.

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Nurturing H.Essers' growth ambitions

Workday implementation gives the transport, warehousing and logistics giant a clear picture of HR worldwide and enables it to integrate acquisitions more effectively.

Aiming realistically high

Established in 1928 by Henri Essers, H.Essers has grown substantially over the years, via both autonomous growth and a number of strategic acquisitions. Its aim is to become THE global reference in its strategic markets, namely pharmaceuticals, chemicals, infrastructure and parts. H.Essers was responsible for the European distribution of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in 2020/2021.

For the immediate future, the firm’s predominantly focusing on the European market. Today, it has more than 6,600 employees spread across 19 countries in Western and Eastern Europe.

One single HR truth

That spread can make it challenging to get a clear picture of its human resources (HR) footprint and assure it’s being managed in the most effective way. “To be able to continue to grow and achieve our ambitions, we really need one single HR database, one single HR reporting tool, as far as possible one single recruitment process and so on, rather than each location having its own payroll, procedures, time and attendance recording processes, etc.” explains Mike Dautzenberg, Chief Human Resources Officer, H.Essers. “With one tool, it’ll also be much easier to integrate acquisitions,” he adds, That’s especially true when it comes to different titles or roles.

“I feel that everytime we approach a new element within the system, PwC has an expert on it who can help guide us.”

Mike DautzenbergChief Human Resources Officer, H.Essers

Operating optimally from a people perspective

To give it that big picture of HR, H.Essers opted to implement Workday human capital management software. “For two years, we looked around the market to find the right solution. Our organisation’s very complex and we needed a tool that all our employees could use, from blue collar up, whenever and from wherever, and that would provide the benefits we were looking for. We decided that Workday would best suit our needs,” Mike Dautzenberg says.

With one single HR platform, H.Essers will also be able to standardise working practices and procedures in all locations in which it operates and be able to put a global HR strategy in place. To help it implement the platform, H.Essers opted to work with PwC.

Keeping it simple, staying on track

As to why H.Essers opted to work with PwC for this project, he notes, “PwC proved to be very down to earth. The PwC people demonstrate the same values as we have in H.Essers; they keep things simple and are very positive. They’re very entrepreneurial. They’re people we feel we can rely on. A plus point was that they’re based close to us and speak our language.” He went on to say that the two firms work together in partnership to find solutions; “we have a good, open relationship where communication is very clear. The team knows what’s important to us and we support each other in reaching our goals. They really go the extra mile to make sure we get where we want to be.”

In COVID-19 times, with physical meetings not possible, Mike Dautzenberg was impressed that they managed to keep the cooperation positive and implementation on track. “Despite PwC not being able to be on site as planned, the project progressed as planned, thanks to the good relationship we have and our ability to continue to cooperate, albeit remotely.”

Specialists in every domain

Workday covers many aspects of human capital management and Mike Dautzenberg is impressed that PwC can offer a specialist on each topic: “I feel that everytime we approach a new element within the system, PwC has an expert on it who can help guide us on that specific area. On top of which, the team stays on top of deadlines and makes sure we make decisions that respect those deadlines.” That includes dealing with and helping resolve issues with third-party suppliers.

Calling on glocal skills

PwC’s global network also comes into play. One of the important modules of Workday for H.Essers is learning and development (L&D) as the firm needs to be able to track and report on required certifications. The PwC Network has already implemented the Workday L&D module for many clients and the Belgian team didn’t hesitate to reach out for support. “That we were able to call on global support, tailored to our own specific situation was invaluable,” Mike Dautzenberg says. And he goes on, “Workday gives our managers the insights into their people that they need to grow and develop their talent pools. Before, this was more based on instinct. With Workday, we’ve hard data to back it up.”

To date, PwC has helped H.Essers implement Workday for all master data of its core HR and L&D activities. “This was a massive challenge. At the beginning, much of the data to be input was either incomplete or out of date,” Mike Dautzenberg recalls.

Leveraging an ongoing partnership

With phase one complete, phase two involves the introduction of time and attendance recording, absence management, talent and performance management, recruitment, advanced compensation and expenses and more. Again, the module will go live in all countries at the same time.

But Mike Dautzenberg doesn’t expect the relationship with PwC to end there: “We plan to continue to grow via acquisition, which means continually introducing new people and teams to Workday. We expect PwC to be by our side to show us how to do this effectively and to continue to keep us up to date with evolutions to make sure we’re always getting the best out of our investment. PwC’s proven to be a true partner that can support us when we’ve questions and concerns - they simply put us in touch with the experts that can help.”

Technologies

Workday Human Capital Management

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.

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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.