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Belgium 13-1-26 Squad Only Virtual english

Moving Legacy Systems to the Cloud Efficiently : Balancing cost, risk, and continuity in complex migrations

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.

Belgium 20-1-26 All Members Physical english

The CIO as Investor - CIONET Belgium Annual Event

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.

Belgium 22-1-26 Invitation Only Virtual english

AI-Driven Development: Redesigning workflows, responsibilities, and trust in the age of automation

AI coding assistants entered development teams quietly, but their impact grows by the day. What started as autocomplete now shapes architecture decisions, documentation, and testing. And when productivity gains are visible, so are new risks: security blind spots, uneven quality, and the slow erosion of shared standards. Teams move faster, but not always in the same direction. The challenge has become integration rather than adoption. And new questions have risen: how do you blend automation into established practices without losing oversight? When is human review still essential, and what should the rules of collaboration between developer and machine look like? As AI tools learn from proprietary code, where do responsibility and accountability sit? Let’s talk about how to redefine those workflows, balancing creativity with control, and protecting code quality in a hybrid human-AI environment. A closed conversation on where AI accelerates progress, where it introduces new debt, and how development culture must evolve to stay credible.

January 13, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

Moving Legacy Systems to the Cloud Efficiently : Balancing cost, risk, and continuity in complex migrations

January 22, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

AI-Driven Development: Redesigning workflows, responsibilities, and trust in the age of automation

January 27, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Zero Trust in Reality : Making segmentation, identity, and access work in complex environments

Zero Trust sounds simple on paper: trust no one, verify everything. But once you start implementing it, the fun begins. Legacy systems, hybrid networks, and human habits don’t read the manual. The idea is solid; the execution, not so much.

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Revolutionizing customer service: ERGO Insurance uses AI and Microsoft Azure to provide 24/7 personalized support

Providing top-tier customer service is a cornerstone of ERGO. To serve thousands of customers sustainably, ERGO Insurance used a Microsoft Azure-powered AI Virtual Agent (VA) developed by EBO. The solution revolutionized the company’s customer service by providing personalized, 24/7 assistance.

ERGO Insurance, a part of the ERGO Group, is committed to offer comprehensive insurance, pensions, and investment services. "Our goal is not just to offer top-tier insurance services, but also top-tier customer experience," begins Rea Theleriti, Chief Customer and Digital Transformation Officer at ERGO Insurance.

However, this goal came with a challenge: sustainably serving thousands of customers round-the-clock. To overcome this, ERGO Insurance wanted to revolutionize its approach, starting with its call centers. “Over the years, we have been focusing on instilling excellence in our intermediaries,” Theleriti explains. “More recently, we started looking into innovating the whole customer journey. We wanted to create an omnichannel experience for our customers, where they could use their preferred communication channels.”

Taking a step forward, ERGO Insurance cooperated with EBO, a Microsoft partner and leader in customer engagement automation, to implement, Χαρά (Joy), an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven Virtual Agent (VA) built on Microsoft Azure.

Technology with a human touch

What makes the Virtual Agent particularly unique in the Greek insurance market is its outstanding recognition rate. Χαρά was built using Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning techniques, Azure Cognitive Services, and Azure Bot Services. EBO’s NLP experts worked with ERGO Insurance and Microsoft to build a VA that can have two-way human-like conversations with customers. The VA’s sentiment analysis can identify users’ emotions and adapt to the conversation accordingly. Finally, Χαρά’s machine learning capabilities keep its language library updated, enabling the VA to learn, adapt and handle more complex tasks.

With these features, the VA can handle both predefined and open-ended questions. “The Virtual Agent’s 95.5 percent recognition rate allows it to understand messages from customers and respond appropriately,” explains Konstantinos Chatzisymeon, Chief Information and Processes Transformation Officer at ERGO Insurance.

Combined with a conversational tone and the ability to communicate in 'Greeklish', a blend of Greek and Latin characters, users experience a more personal touch than with usual chatbots. "We aim to communicate with our customers in whichever way they prefer," explains Theleriti. “The more dialogues and services we offer, the more we can understand our customers. And though it may be a competitive advantage now, a Virtual Agent will become standard practice in the future.”

Simpler, more personalized interactions

One version of the Virtual Agent mainly addressed frequently asked questions (FAQ), enabling customers quick access to information regarding insurance coverage, emergency procedures, and more. While this helped with decreasing the workload for one-touch tickets, ERGO Greece wanted to create a more personalized experience. It integrated the VA directly into its core systems to offer more functions and perform a variety of operations.

The VA was then deployed to assist with policy renewals, enabling customers to verify their payment amounts and methods. Moreover, users could register for the customer portal via the VA. “It walks customers through registration with a dialog-driven process, which is more personal than filling in a standard form by yourself,” elaborates Theleriti. “This makes people feel more comfortable, and that encourages more sign ups.”

Happier, more engaged customers

Within four months of using Virtual Agent, ERGO Greece saw better customer experience. "Achieving 85 percent customer satisfaction rate for dialogues initiated through the VA is a great sign. It shows that our users are happy with these interactions," remarks Theleriti.

Providing 24/7 support has also had a positive impact on the company’s policy renewal process. Typically, once customers are sent a notification to renew their policy, they would have to find the notice and contact an agent or call center. Since the burden of the process lies on the customer, some may just forgo renewing their policies.

Now, the renewal process is simplified with the VA. Customers can request and access information easily even without specific policy details. They only need to provide their name and tax identification number or vehicle plate number. They can then make the payment online. “Customers sometimes renew their policy twice a year, so the easier we make it for them to make payments, the more value we are offering as a company. Having the VA significantly helps us manage the payment system, as we’re handling around 3,000 transactions per month,” describes Theleriti.

Effective human-AI partnership

While the VA can fully operate automatically, ERGO Insurance has full control over conversational workflows and can manage, build, or enhance conversation flows at any point in time. Should a customer conversation require human intervention, Χαρά automatically transfers the conversation seamlessly to a human agent. “In four months, 83 percent of chats were completely handled end-to-end by the VA. This has eased our agent workload and enabled us to focus on more complex business tasks,” says Theleriti.

Following the successful pilot phase, ERGO Insurance is set to implement further use cases of the VA. The company is hoping that it will become the starting point for many core processes, including renewals and claims. “The most crucial consideration is how we integrate technology into our customer journey. If it's supplementary, it won't create value, and people won't use it,” elaborates Chatzisymeon. “Our goal is to digitize and automate our processes to truly revolutionize the experience by making the interaction conversational via the VA.”

“EBO is proud to have collaborated with ERGO Insurance on its digital transformation journey,” shares Dr. Gege Gatt, CEO at EBO. “We are excited about the future potential of the VA to serve as the starting point for many of ERGO Insurance’s core processes. EBO remains committed to integrating technology seamlessly into the customer journey to create truly transformative experiences."

Reflecting on the journey so far, Theleriti notes, “I place great value on our partners, EBO and Microsoft, and our staff who implemented this solution. Transformation isn't solely driven by technology. How we use technology and what we choose to do with it is most critical in how we’ll transform customer experience in the future.”

Technologies

Cognitive Services (AI)

CIONET Business Circles

Healthcare Circle

Digital Transformation is redefining the future of health care and health delivery. All stakeholders are convinced that these innovations will create value for patients, healthcare practitioners, hospitals, and governments along the patient pathway. The benefits are starting from prevention and awareness to diagnosis, treatment, short- and long-term follow-up, and ultimately survival. But how do you make sure that your working towards an architecturally sound, secure and interoperable health IT ecosystem for your hospital and avoid implementing a hodgepodge of spot solutions? How does your IT department work together with the other stakeholders, such as the doctors and other healthcare practitioners, Life Sciences companies, Tech companies, regulators and your internal governance and administrative bodies?

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.