null

Belgium 10-09-2026 Squad Only Physical english

Building the Infrastructure AI Needs: From computer and data access to scalability, cost control, and operational readiness.

AI is moving from pilots into operational use, and the infrastructure question is becoming more concrete. The challenge is deciding what needs to be built, expanded, controlled, or delayed as usage grows. Three pressure points usually appear first. - Compute capacity requires careful planning: teams need enough GPU, cloud, or specialised processing power, while keeping utilisation and cost under control. - Data movement becomes more demanding: AI needs access to data across systems, with latency, security, integration, and quality managed from the start. - Operational control becomes essential: monitoring, access rights, resilience, cost visibility, and ownership need to scale with usage. The working question is simple: how do we support AI at scale while keeping infrastructure efficient, governed, and financially sustainable? If you are working through these choices, let’s compare approaches with others facing similar constraints.

Belgium 15-09-2026 Squad Only Virtual english

Turning AI Pilots into Daily Workflows: How to move from experimentation to adoption by redesigning work, ownership, controls, and habits.

AI pilots are easier to launch than to embed into daily operations. The challenge is changing how work happens once AI becomes part of decisions, tasks, handovers, and controls. Three pressure points tend to decide whether adoption holds. - Workflow fit matters: AI has to enter the flow of work as part of the process. - Ownership needs to be clear: someone must own the process, the controls, the exceptions, and the outcome. - User trust has to be built: people need to know when to rely on AI, when to challenge it, and when to escalate. The working question is simple: how do we move AI from promising pilots into daily work while keeping clarity, accountability, and risk control? If this is part of your current reality, let’s compare choices, constraints, and lessons learned.

Belgium 17-09-2026 Country Members Physical french

Les Rencontres: CTO: Le Saint Graal?

Pendant longtemps, le TCO donnait une impression de contrôle. On investissait, on amortissait, on optimisait. Les coûts étaient visibles, relativement prévisibles, et structurés autour d’une logique claire entre CAPEX et OPEX. Ce modèle ne suffit plus à expliquer où va réellement l’argent. Aujourd’hui, une part croissante des dépenses IT ne repose plus sur ce que l’on possède, mais sur ce que l’on consomme: des tokens générés par l’IA des agents qui exécutent des actions en continu des outils SaaS qui se multiplient dans les équipes du cloud qui s’adapte en permanence à l’usage Le coût ne disparaît pas, mais il devient plus diffus, plus dynamique, et souvent plus difficile à attribuer, à expliquer, et à maîtriser. C’est là que des approches comme le Technology Business Management, ou TBM, redeviennent particulièrement utiles: non pas comme un exercice de reporting supplémentaire, mais comme un moyen de relier concrètement les dépenses aux services, aux usages, et aux décisions. Et c’est là aussi que la question du “Saint Graal” revient, mais sous une autre forme. Vous vous demandez peut-être: Comment garder de la maîtrise quand la dépense dépend du comportement, des usages, et parfois même de systèmes autonomes ? Comment piloter l’équilibre CAPEX/OPEX quand le cloud, le SaaS et l’IA déplacent progressivement les coûts vers des modèles variables ? Quels coûts restent encore trop souvent hors radar: ressources métier, formation, support, intégration, sécurité, gouvernance ? Et surtout, qu’est-ce qu’un “bon TCO” veut encore dire quand il faut le mettre en regard d’objectifs parfois plus stratégiques, plus longs à mesurer, ou plus difficiles à quantifier: qualité de service, résilience, agilité, expérience utilisateur, capacité d’innovation ? Ce sont précisément ces questions qui seront au cœur de notre rencontre: une discussion ouverte entre pairs, ancrée dans la réalité du terrain, pas pour débattre de modèles idéaux, mais pour comprendre comment chacun tente, concrètement, de mesurer, d’attribuer et de reprendre le contrôle, sans réduire la valeur d’un choix technologique à son seul coût.

Please Log In with your CIONET account first

Delivering a secure and agile digital transformation for Orica

Helping the Australia-based multi-national as an end-to-end trusted partner.

Overview
Like many organisations, Orica was embarking on a digital transformation. As the world’s leading producer of explosives, with over 13,000 employees and operations in over 120 countries, it was vital security sat at the centre of their strategy.

We began working with Orica back in 2015 as part of a global network and security partnership. The trusted partnership has really evolved since then as Orica have shifted their focus to become a digital and data-driven company.

The challenge
For Orica, they needed to transform to allow employees to operate from anywhere, anytime and on any device. They wanted to increase productivity and drive costs down, whilst also giving employees the ability to work flexibly at home without any issues. This proved difficult with their static and inflexible network.

Due to their global reach, Orica needed their security to keep up with the ever-increasing number of sophisticated cyber threats. They needed us to deliver a transformational SD-WAN network with associated network security services to ensure it was secure. There were a number of controls included, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) solution, firewalls and secure web gateways.

Security is a key enabler sitting at the heart of our digital transformation.”

Chris CrozierCIO at Orica

The solution
We transformed their static network into a secure, agile infrastructure, shifting from MPLS to full SD-WAN.

We helped them to adopt a Zero Trust approach to their network access. This allowed for significantly more granular security policies to be applied to users, no matter where they were connecting from, whilst also enhancing user experience. We also applied user segmentation to secure certified workloads across Orica’s server estate. In addition to deploying a security policy and posture management platform, Orica transformed their traditional signature-based endpoint security by deploying new global detection and response capabilities.

The result
Users can now work anywhere, anytime. This allows Orica to be more productive, while keeping costs down. And their on-premises data centres are now cloud-enabled. Our trusted partnership with Orica means they now have the best in class security, which is central to their transformation. Chris Crozier, CIO at Orica says ‘they’ve been able to provide a tremendously valuable partnership with teams working on our MPLS to SD-WAN engagement but also the ongoing day-to-day requirements of that network. We have individual projects at scale to be able to roll out the new network requirements and support and finally we get very detailed insight depth and capability from BT to enable to business and drive the transformation that’s required’.

We’re now there as an end-to-end trusted partner. There to protect Orica’s organisation and their customers, whilst also equipping Orica with the knowledge they need in the moments that matter.

The way in which BT and Orica work together is one of true partnership… we’ve worked together to transform the initial contract to now delivering one which is a lot more digitally orientated as part of Orica’s wider transformation.”

Tris MorganManaging Director, BT Security

Technologies

Cisco SD-WAN

Partners

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.