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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.

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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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Puratos Enhances Customer and Employee Experiences with OutSystems

Puratos decided to look for a solution that would provide the company with limitless innovation while enabling it to keep up with the constant new developments in the food industry. Since adopting OutSystems, the platform has become a strategic technology in Puratos’ digital transformation.

"The versatility of the OutSystems development platform makes it possible to solve problems without limitations and innovate fast by lowering the technological threshold."

Gerasimos KouloumpisICT Digital Architects Manager and Customer Experience Applications Manager, Puratos

Challenge

Searching for a solution to enhance customer and employee experiences

Based in Belgium, Puratos is a global manufacturing company that supplies bakers, pastry chefs, chocolatiers, and large industrial customers with cutting-edge services and ingredients.

Founded in 1919 as a father-and-son operation, the company has evolved into a successful international business focused on creating exceptional customer and employee experiences while positively impacting society. Regarding the latter, the company is determined to achieve sustainable water usage, waste reduction and carbon neutrality by 2025.

This way, when Puratos creates innovative food solutions for companies that put health and well-being first, it is also helping customers, people, and the planet grow sustainably.

To achieve this vision, the company monitors consumer opinion in several regions and cultures of the world. This requires Puratos employees to look for ways to exchange information with customers and partners at the right time, as the right solution at the right time can make all the difference.

Therefore, a flexible and robust IT environment is non-negotiable, and nothing should prevent rapid response to market developments.

That’s why Puratos decided to look for a low-code development platform. After a careful evaluation, the company chose OutSystems high-performance low-code platform and ForTrevo as its implementation partner.

Why Puratos chose OutSystems:

Full-stack visual development with no limits
Powerful integration
Deliver public-facing web apps and portals

“Choosing OutSystems and ForTrevo experts doesn’t just facilitate rapid, targeted development of new business applications; it also streamlines integration with current ERP, CRM, and content management systems.” - Olga DuarteCEO, ForTrevo

Solution

Delivering new solutions that foster inspiration and collaboration

As Puratos’ Group ICT Digital Architects Manager and Customer Experience Applications Manager, Gerasimos Kouloumpis is intimately involved in application management and development. When asked why Puratos chose OutSystems to tackle its development needs, Kouloumpis highlighted the platform’s versatility:

“You can solve problems without restrictions. The development platform helps lower the threshold, technologically speaking, so we can focus on what matters to the business. That’s true for applications developed in OutSystems and solutions that integrate OutSystems with applications currently used in our complex business landscape. The result is a series of user-friendly solutions that align with the right business objectives.”

Since adopting OutSystems, Puratos has delivered several applications that ensure the company’s digital competitive edge.

The list includes:

Online platform to promote and encourage recipe collaboration: this solution is a true differentiator in the industry. Users can create and share recipes while adding nutritional calculations and recommendations. Thanks to its intuitive user interface, the solution is being used by over 1,500 bakers, pastry chefs, and chocolatiers worldwide. Since it first launched, the application has been expanded with a second module to give customers a similar experience.
Process flow solutions: Puratos has delivered several solutions to support its R&D department to control process flows such as sample orders, baked goods testing and conducting relevant analyses.
Solutions to identify and monitor nutrients and ingredients: the Quality Control Department uses the OutSystems technology in tandem with other state-of-the-art technology to identify and monitor nutrients and ingredients.
myPuratos: a digital hub used by thousands of Puratos customers in 20+ countries. The company uses OutSystems to orchestrate the data flow and business rules between global ERP, CRM, and CMS environments and for integrations with third-party online payment service providers.

Results

Digital Innovation is now part of the Puratos’ DNA

Since adopting OutSystems, Puratos has reduced the lead time for innovation. Kouloumpis explained:

“Now, we can quickly create a Proof of Value (PoV) for certain functionality or applications and validate business ideas in the digital world. Imagine personalized baking solutions, for instance. Within a few weeks, we have a viable result and an application developed, tested, and validated. Business users are pleased by what IT can deliver. That’s partially attributable to the intuitive, accessible nature of the OutSystems development platform.”

Partner

ForTrevo

ForTrevo's team designs and develops innovative web, reactive & mobile applications, using OutSystems platform. Our team of Certified OutSystems Developers is strongly skilled and committed to...

Learn more about ForTrevo

Another aspect of the OutSystems platform highlighted by Kouloumpis is how the OutSystems platform blended with the rest of the Puratos digital landscape. The way it didn’t change the IT team’s way of working was critical to make OutSystems an instrumental platform in Puratos’ digital transformation journey.

Now, innovation isn’t held captive by a rigid IT environment; it’s validated and rolled out quickly. As for future customer and employee experiences, they’ll continue to become more and more tailored.

Technologies

Outsystems

Partners

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