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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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Decathlon expands global digital leadership and presence with a trusted partner

Decathlon, a leading sporting goods retailer with a vast global presence, has joined forces with Trend Micro to fortify its digital operations. As the company expands its online presence and embraces cutting-edge technologies, Trend Micro's comprehensive cybersecurity solutions are playing a vital role in protecting Decathlon's customers and data.

OVERVIEW

With more than 1,700 stores in 70 countries, global sporting goods retailer Decathlon aims to bring the power of sport to the world by designing the best products at the best prices, always innovating for quality, sustainability, and performance. Decathlon’s shift toward digital operations—including creating a top online platform for customers and embracing innovations—introduced multiple security challenges. The company partnered with Trend to ensure a streamlined security approach through Decathlon’s digital expansion.

Trend Micro offers us important security coverage, with solutions for the cloud, the internet of things (IoT), and so on. There are not a lot of companies that can help us across all of those parameters.

Matthieu Vanoost - Security Manager, Decathlon

CHALLENGES

Centralization and automation are at the heart of Decathlon’s cybersecurity strategy. The company needed its infrastructure to integrate and share data security internally. It also needed to create global security standards and implement them quickly in an fastpaced business environment. “Decathlon is focused on innovation. We want to become the top sporting goods platform, so the digital side of the company has to be innovative and keep pace with technology changes,” says Matthieu Vanoost, security manager at Decathlon.

In its digital expansion, Decathlon wanted to ensure that the company’s retail units used the same cybersecurity protocols as the rest of the company. It also needed to establish good governance to secure all applications and other assets, while ensuring compliance with domestic and international cybersecurity regulations.

WHY TREND

The Decathlon team was impressed with Trend’s versatile technology. And as the first vendor on the market offering extended detection and response (XDR) across email, network, server, and cloud workloads, Trend proved itself to be a multi-faceted partner that could meet Decathlon’s needs. “Trend offers us full security coverage from the cloud to endpoint devices and email. There are not a lot of companies that can help us across all of those parameters,” says Matthieu.

Matthieu and his team also found Trend to be a responsive partner, collaborating to solve problems and develop solutions in tandem. Trend readily accepted feedback and incorporated it into product updates, launches, and rollouts. “For me, the differentiator is the human touch, which is very important if you want to create a partnership. The human value is more important than the business,” says Matthieu.

For me the differentiator is the human touch, which is very important if you want to create a partnership. The human value is more important than the business.

Matthieu Vanoost Security Manager, Decathlon

SOLUTION

Trend’s solutions have allowed Decathlon to aggressively pursue its digital vision with confidence. Decathlon deployed Trend Vision One™, Trend Micro Apex One™ as a Service, Trend Micro™ Cloud App Security, Trend Cloud One™—Workload Security, and Trend Micro™ XDR.

In addition to offering Decathlon a cohesive view of risk across the organization and allowing the company to become better prepared to manage potential vulnerabilities, Trend’s solutions provide flexibility when it comes to cost. “Trend’s pricing method is great because there is no risk. If our cloud adoption increases, we pay more as you go. If adoption decreases, we pay less. This flexibility allows us to increase and contract when needed, giving us significant cost savings compared to older pricing models,” says Matthieu.

RESULTS

“We found Trend Vision One and Cloud App Security to secure our 100,000 Google users, easy to set up and deploy—which has been a major advantage,” says Matthieu. The company also benefited from Trend Vision One’s automatic collection of security incident data and how it collects information in one platform, reducing alert fatigue, saving time, and reducing costs. “The executive dashboards and risk insights help our security team present information to leadership and other stakeholders, as well as track progress made toward key performance indicators (KPIs),” says Matthieu.

Lastly, expanding to cover a new parameter can now be accomplished with ease—there is little to no manual management of technical set up required. “If you’re efficient—if you don’t need to get information from different platforms, you can activate a new perimeter with a click, and the data is sent directly through the platform—this is a big benefit,” Matthieu explains.

WHAT'S NEXT

Establishing Decathlon as a digital leader in the sporting goods market in Europe and around the world is the priority for the company in the next few years. This requires maintaining and improving security as parameters shift and threats continue to escalate online. It also means working with industry-leading partners like Trend to ensure that state-of-the-art solutions are continuously driving business growth and innovation.

Technologies

Apex One™ Cloud One – Workload Security Vision One™ with Managed XDR

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.

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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.