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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.

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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.

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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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CIONET Partner Updates

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Kıvanç Tekstil weaves multiple Trend Micro solutions into their cybersecurity fabric

Kıvanç Tekstil, a leading fabric manufacturer with over half a century of experience, has prioritized cybersecurity to protect its valuable data and ensure business continuity. Trend Micro's advanced security solutions have enabled Kıvanç Tekstil to strengthen its defenses, improve efficiency, and focus on core business operations.

OVERVIEW

Founded by Hacı Mustafa Kıvanç in the early 1950s, fabric manufacturer Kıvanç Tekstil operates in Adana with more than half a century of experience. This experience can be seen in both the quality of their fabric as well as their product diversity. The company produces 18 million meters of fabric annually, providing a rich collection of goods for their brands while holding an important position in both local and global markets. While Kıvanç Tekstil operates primarily in the European and US markets, they are growing day by day thanks to their innovative approach and corporate structure. At the same time, they are continually strengthening their technological infrastructure.

 

"After researching and examining the various solutions available on the market, and then fully integrating them, we preferred Trend Micro"

Onur Pulgat - Information Systems Manager, Kıvanç Tekstil

 
 

CHALLENGES

With the continued spread of digital transformation and adoption of digital environments, cyberattacks have become widespread all over the world. These are among the most significant threats to businesses and government institutions. As the value of data is increasing day by day, Kıvanç Tekstil has made significant investments in their infrastructure.

“Cyberattacks are expanding in line with these investments. We started looking for a solution that would provide security,” says Information Systems Manager Onur Pulgat. “One that can protect the surface better and come from both the inside and outside. It will provide high-level protection against threats, work in an integrated manner, and have more informatics.”

 
 

WHY TREND

Before Trend, Kıvanç Tekstil was using solutions that were independent of each other, which could not be consolidated, resulting in serious labor and time loss. “After researching and examining the various solutions available on the market, and then fully integrating them, we preferred Trend Micro,” Pulgat says.

The position of Trend as an advanced, overlapping company greatly appealed to the Kıvanç Tekstil team. “It was at the top of our list due to its solutions and international references,” Pulgat adds. “You never know exactly when you need security—you can’t know. You can make demos, you can do tests, but none of these are equal to the solutions developed for real-life events. One of the most important factors in our choice was Trend Micro’s references.”

 
 

SOLUTION

Kıvanç Tekstil uses Deep Discovery Inspector, Cloud App Security, Trend Micro Apex One, and Deep Security Software in a variety of ways, from end users to servers. These solutions have enabled the company to achieve end-to-end security. “We have secured our endpoints and servers with Trend Micro Apex One and increased network traceability with Deep Discovery Inspector,” states Pulgat. “We started to see traffic at an early stage and there is intervention. With Cloud App Security, we have secured our cloud ecosystem, and with XDR, threats are proactively detected on both servers and endpoints.”

 
 

RESULTS

Trend, the Kıvanç Tekstil IT team, and its integrator company, VData Information Technologies banded together to achieve a seamless transition to the new solutions. This is a result of ample planning, access to modern risk-aware technologies and top-notch talent, and plenty of hard work.

At Kıvanç Tekstil, integration and management difficulties disappeared. Moreover, their level of cybersecurity has increased exponentially. “Significant time is needed to maintain cybersecurity and manage rules. We were experiencing losses, but thanks to Trend Micro, they have been eliminated,” says Pulgat. “We can now spend more time on our other work.”

 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

By increasing their level of cybersecurity and protecting against cyber threats with the solutions and capabilities Trend offers, Kıvanç Tekstil has become more resistant to other attacks. They aim to invest further in these solutions.

Partners

CIONET Circles

CIONET Business Circles

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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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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.

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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 !

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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.

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