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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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Enables clients to set a higher bar for security and DevOps

CMD Solutions is a professional services and cloud consulting company that focuses on the design of hybrid cloud solutions that are secure, scalable, and efficient. Based in Sydney, Australia, their team of AWS certified consultants are well versed in IRAP, APRA, and PCI-DSS compliance standards, while specializing in Security Competency and DevOps transformations.

Challenges

CMD needed a continuous security-monitoring tool that would help their team identify baseline controls for their clients, while remaining consistent and up to date with evolving security best practices. Agility and responsiveness to the market was key for CMD.

Being an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, it was important for their tool of choice to measure against the five pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and common industry compliance standards.

As CMD’s clients move through a DevSecOps transformation and add services during migration, real-time visibility into their evolving cloud infrastructure is critical to ongoing support and assessments.

"Trend Micro Cloud One – Conformity allows us to provide visibility to our customers - that we’re configuring their infrastructure correctly."

Adam Durbin - CTO, CMD

Solution

CMD uses Trend Micro Cloud One - Conformity with 600+ rules mapped against the five pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and industry compliance standards to assess their customer’s public cloud environments. With every rule violation, remediation steps are offered with clear instructions on how to perform the updates; these changes can be made through the AWS console or via the AWS^® Command Line Interface (CLI).

Trend Micro’s approach to cloud security, compliance posture management, and governance is well aligned with CMD’s expertise in professional consulting services that focus on DevSecOps transformations. “Trend Micro Cloud One – Conformity allows us to provide visibility to our customers - that we’re configuring their infrastructure correctly,” says Adam Durbin, CTO of CMD.

CMD has leveraged Cloud One - Conformity’s extensive reporting feature to create new professional services for their managed services arm. Their monthly reviews, based on findings by Conformity, enable their clients to set a higher bar for security and DevOps, as new initiatives are set.

Conformity provides CMD’s clients with greater visibility into their cloud infrastructure. By using a third-party audit, CMD presents clients unbiased results and maintains a consistently productive relationship as updates and implementations take place.

Using Conformity, CMD is able to run a single infrastructure security review, which covers several compliance standards. Time saved in the discovery process allows more time to focus on growth opportunities, without compromising on the critical regulatory standards their clients are held to.

"Trend Micro Cloud One - Conformity gives us instant visibility into our customer’s cloud and speeds up our audits, continually monitoring so we can improve their security and adhere to governance policies."

Fabio Carvana - Head of Managed Services, CMD

Results

CMD’s partnership with Trend Micro Cloud One – Conformity allowed them to create a new managed services arm. They can offer their clients greater visibility and trust, while delivering their mission to design secure, scalable, and efficient cloud solutions and enabling DevOps transformations.

Along with Conformity, CMD customers are leveraging other Trend Micro Cloud One services, including Workload Security, providing runtime protection for hybrid workloads and containers.

Technologies

Trend Micro Cloud One

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.