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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.

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Sparkling new ideas for Kärcher’s digital transformation

How we transformed this cleaning manufacturer's operations with cloud-based connectivity.

Overview
Kärcher has always been one step ahead. The world’s largest cleaning equipment manufacturer invented Europe’s first hot-water pressure washer in 1950. Today, Kärcher is working on everything from robotics to eco-friendly cleaning tools that use less energy and are more recyclable. The company also launched 150 new products in 2019 – more than it had ever achieved before within a single year.

When the company needed to upgrade its network, it wanted a partner that valued innovation as much as them. That’s why Kärcher came to us.

The challenge
Kärcher’s existing network was under a lot of pressure. To create an agile working environment, team members were increasingly connecting in the cloud. While the manufacturer was also offering new online services built on its ‘cleaning on demand’ platform, to appeal to customers' high-tech tastes.

This growing digital demand was affecting the network’s performance. This made it harder for Kärcher to expand at the speed it wanted and risked impacting customers experience online. While sending its IT maintenance costs spiralling.

Kärcher needed a digital transformation that would clean up its operations. Making its network smarter, faster, more secure and more reliable. So the company could work the way it wanted to.

We now have a network that can flex for what’s next.”

Leonard KerscherDirector. IT & Digital Transformation, Kärcher

The solution
To help Kärcher adapt, we created a custom networking solution that was built on three cornerstones: growth, security and innovation. This started with improving its infrastructure. To handle the increased traffic flow, we added intelligent connectivity that can automatically prioritise business-critical apps, while added control makes it easier for Kärcher to scale its systems as it expands.

Moving to the cloud opens businesses up to increased cyber-threats. So we added several layers of protection to keep Kärcher’s data safe. This included a new firewall to defend the company’s entire network, plus endpoint protection to detect and respond to threats on individual devices faster.

To make sure Kärcher’s global network is always up to date, we added a service wrap. While the company remains in control of its security policies, our experts routinely check its infrastructure for vulnerabilities and maintain its firewall. While another team makes sure all its Cisco hardware and software stays compliant.

The result
Kärcher now has a network that can flex for what’s next. The automatic traffic prioritisation means customers always get the best experience when using its online services. And deploying applications at scale is simple, so team members always have the tools they need.

Next-level security means the cleaning manufacturer can stay protected. It remains in control of policies, so can still work the way they want. But our managed support also means Kärcher get up-to-the-minute reports on their system’s health. So it can block threats before they reach its network, reducing risk.
This all means it’s easier for the company to expand, embrace new technologies and keep pace with the ever-changing business landscape.

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