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Belgium 27-8-26 AB Members Physical english

Summer Festival: Advisory Board

CIO agendas are crowded: cost pressure, cyber, regulation, talent, data, AI, vendor dependency, business expectations. Most organisations are trying to do too much at once, and the “must-do” work often blocks the strategic work. CIONET only creates value if its agenda matches what CIOs truly need, in the right format, at the right time. The challenge Pick the few priorities that matter most for 2027, then translate them into a clear CIONET agenda. Outcome we leave with A ranked CIO agenda for 2027, and a directly aligned CIONET programme outline (themes, formats, cadence), with a shortlist of speaker and case targets.

Belgium 27-8-26 Country Members Physical english

Summerfest: From Story to Habit

How to align people, shift routines, and prove value Technology transformations often fail not because the tools don’t work, but because people don’t change their work habits. Boards want proof of value, executives want business outcomes, IT wants clarity, and employees want ease. Between these expectations, the CIO’s role is no longer just to deliver platforms; it is to tell the story that motivates people and turn that story into daily habits. This session will explore: The narrative: how to craft a simple, repeatable story that explains the “why” behind change for every stakeholder. From story to routine: practical ways to embed new behaviours through manager rituals, team incentives, and visible leadership. Reskilling and new expectations: preparing teams for evolving roles, from cross-department collaboration to AI-enhanced workflows. Measuring what matters: showing progress in speed, quality, and resilience — not just in licences bought or trainings completed. The aim is to equip CIOs with a leadership toolkit: a story that unites, habits that endure, and proof that convinces even the toughest boardroom.

Belgium 8-9-26 Invitation Only Virtual english

What an AI Architect Actually Does in Practice; Skills, responsibilities, interfaces, and career moves behind one of the most misunderstood emerging roles.

The AI architect role is becoming more visible, and the scope varies across organisations. The challenge is defining what the role owns, where it sits, and how it works with existing architecture, data, security, risk, and business teams. Three pressure points need clarity. - Role definition matters because the position can span solution architecture, data architecture, governance, integration, security, vendor selection, and business process design. - Interfaces matter because the role must connect teams while respecting existing responsibilities. - Skills matter because technical depth needs to be combined with judgement around controls, delivery choices, and operational boundaries. The working question is simple: how do we define the AI architect role so it becomes useful, credible, and connected to delivery? If this role is emerging in your organisation, let’s compare how others are defining it and where they are placing it.

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Rossmann Runs Business-critical Logistics System on OutSystems

With more than 1,500 stores in around 400 cities, Rossmann Poland is the country’s leading drug store chain. And since 2020, the retailer has used a logistics app called “S-Hub” in its central distribution warehouse.That app and 24 others are built on OutSystems, and the number keeps rising.

“OutSystems gives us the ability to build applications we need with virtually no limits, including extensive apps that cover critical operations.” - Robert HaberBusiness Solutions Architect, Rossmann Poland

Challenge

Numerous App Dev Technologies Led to Development Silos

Rossmann Poland has a long history of in-house custom software development, which has helped the drug store giant differentiate in its market. Around 300 specialists work in its IT department, and they had a veritable smorgasbord of different software development technologies.

“We were concerned about hitting a wall with low-code. But we’ve found no limits to what we can do with OutSystems. The ability to modify or extend code at the front-end or back-end means we can deliver apps precisely tailored to our needs.” - Piotr JugielDeputy Director of the IT Department, Rossmann Poland

In mid-2019, Rossmann Poland decided to complement and standardize its application development technology, aiming to provide a single, comprehensive application development kit that would speed up the development process and allow developers to focus less on technology and more on solving business problems. This additional element was the choice of a low-code solution.

Ultimately, the company chose OutSystems as the platform met their requirements to deploy on-premises and was suited to multiple use cases, including mission-critical core business systems and smaller web and mobile workplace applications.

Why Rossmann Poland chose OutSystems:

Speed-up development and improve agility
Independence from mobile platforms
Full-stack visual development with no limits

Solution

Convincing IT Teams Step by Step

With a large team of experienced developers, Robert Haber, Business Solutions Architect at Rossmann, had to tread carefully to win over colleagues to a new low-code way of working. “Junior developers were very receptive and quick to learn OutSystems,” says Robert, “But, in fairness, it wasn’t easy to convince all of our developers to go low-code.”

“To win over skeptics, presenting low-code as a panacea doesn’t work,” says Robert. “Instead, a step-by-step approach is more persuasive. We pointed out the areas of development where OutSystems gave the most benefits, like UI development and speed. We gradually proved the case with concrete results.”

“To win over skeptics, presenting low-code as a panacea doesn’t work. Instead, a step-by-step approach is more persuasive.”- Robert HaberBusiness Solutions Architect, Rossmann Poland

Results

25 Apps and Counting—Including a Mission-Critical Logistics App

Now, just over two years since adopting OutSystems, Rossmann has 25 applications running on OutSystems, serving around 20,000 users every day. Of these, 4,000 are heavy users at head office, and around 16,000 are users in stores.

Rossmann has a blended sourcing approach that combines in-house development with certified developers from OutSystems partners to assist on more complex projects.

“Many developers assume low-code is just for simple tools in the back office,” says Robert. “But we’ve proven the contrary very quickly. OutSystems allows us to build the applications we need with virtually no limits, including extensive apps that cover critical operations.”

So, although Rossmann has several simple applications that do not require extensive integration, it also has more complex business-critical solutions that it has comprehensively integrated with core systems.

S-Hub—A Mission-Critical Logistics App

The S-Hub app is at the center of Rossmann’s supply chain. Installed on Android devices used at Rossmann’s central distribution warehouse, S-Hub scans incoming and outgoing deliveries, streamlining distribution to stores.

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