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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.

Belgium 06-10-2026 All Members Physical english

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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Helping FCA Automotive Services bring its contact centre in-house

A simple, affordable solution for a global finance powerhouse

Overview
When FCA Automotive Services UK needed to set up an all-new financial services operation, Moiz Sheikh had the challenge of setting up a contact centre from scratch. But partnering with us and using Cloud Contact made the process a breeze.

Cloud Contact doesn’t need onsite hardware or software. This makes it fast and straightforward to set up – and, because it’s pay-as-you-go, it requires no capital expenditure either. Moiz can increase or decrease the service instantly, so he gets the exact contact centre his new business needs.

The challenge
FCA Automotive Services UK offers a huge range of finance options for vehicles from Fiat Group Automobiles, as well as other household names like Jaguar Land Rover. It focuses on three areas: contract hire for personal and business customers, dealer financing to provide working capital for vehicle stock, and customer financing for personal contract purchase or regular hire purchase.

Until recently, FCA Automotive Services outsourced its customer financing operation to a large financial services company. But as the financial climate changed, it decided to bring the operation in-house. Moiz Sheikh, IT Services Manager at FCA Automotive Services UK, explains: “Insourcing our customer financing operation meant building a new business from scratch, finding accommodation, and recruiting around 80 people.”

FCA Automotive Services chose serviced offices to house the new team, which meant it needed a contact centre. The centre had to be robust enough to deal with the company’s existing 120,000 customers, and be scalable for potential business growth. With Fiat Group’s worldwide contract already sitting with us, it made sense for FCA Automotive Services to work with us, too.

Moiz Sheikh continues: “Initially we thought we’d build and run our own physical contact centre and I looked at various solutions including those in use by Volkswagen and Citroen. But ultimately we chose BT Cloud Contact. As a hosted service it enabled more rapid deployment and helped conserve our capital.”

BT gave us the guidance we needed to get our business up and running quickly. BT Cloud Contact was the most cost effective solution.”

Moiz SheikhIT Services Manager, FCA Automotive Services UK

The solution
Available worldwide, Cloud Contact is a web-based contact centre that can support over 1,000 agents. It has full multimedia capability, so incoming voice calls can mix with email, web chat, co-browsing, and call-back requests in one seamless queue.

There are no hardware constraints and it doesn’t need physical infrastructure or software on site. With Cloud Contact, agents can literally be anywhere – a company site, at home, or on the move. The only equipment agents need is a PC with a headset or laptop with an internet connection.

Cloud Contact has a range of advanced features, like interactive voice response for customer self-service. Enhanced call steering and skills-based routing direct customers to the best qualified agent, wherever they are. It can also integrate with other back office systems via an open API (application programming interface).

FCA Automotive Services has paired the capability of Cloud Contact with a range of Inbound Contact freefone and non-geographic numbers for different customer segments. We also supplied One Voice Featureline fixed line centrex voice services for contact centre agents at the new office. As well as IP Connect wide area network connectivity for corporate network and internet access under our global agreement with Fiat Group.

We delivered an initial 30-agent package on schedule. And we gave new users and administrators on-site training. “BT Cloud Contact is proving to be perfect for us,” confirms Moiz Sheikh, “as it’s hosted we didn’t need to do anything internally. It was very fast to set up and the flexible commercial terms give us the business agility we require. You can move it anywhere and add or even reduce the number of agents connected – and you only pay for what you need.”

The result
Thanks to Cloud Contact, FCA Automotive Services have been able to quickly bring its customer financing operation in house, using an agile multimedia contact centre to provide customer service excellence. And they did it all without spending a lot of money or taking on a big business risk.

Cloud Contact’s multimedia capabilities will continue to support the business as it grows and evolves. Plus, the transportable nature of the contact centre platform has also allowed FCA Automotive Services to become more resilient and plan for the future – safe in the knowledge that their agents can work from anywhere.

“BT Cloud Contact has met our expectations in every way,” sums up Moiz Sheikh. “It’s been straightforward to deploy, it’s easy to use, it’s proving to be simple to administer, and it gives us the information we need to manage our business.”

FCA Automotive Services has already extended the contact centre to around 60 agents – incorporating its dealer financing and contract hire businesses, as well as supporting two other Fiat Group operations. We’re now discussing using Cloud Contact for FCA Automotive Services in Italy.

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.