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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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Carey Group construction giant builds stronger security from a single platform

Construction giant builds stronger security from a single platform

OVERVIEW

The Carey Group is one of the UK’s leading construction and engineering firms. A family-run business for over 50 years, the firm has grown into a multimillion-pound organization, with customers across commercial, healthcare, residential, retail, industrial, and many other sectors.

Amjad Khan is the infrastructure engineer at the firm, where he manages a team of five with responsibility for on-premises and cloud IT systems and cybersecurity. With over 1,000 users and additional contractors, there’s plenty to keep him busy. In fact, cyber risk is escalating to such levels that UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently published its first ever guidance document for the industry. It warned that as organizations in the sector that increasingly expand their use of digital technologies, may unwittingly be exposing themselves to phishing, ransomware, supply chain attacks, and other threats. A combination of managing sensitive data and processing high-value payments makes construction firms a particularly lucrative target for cyber-criminals, NCSC warned.

Amjad says that although ransomware keeps him awake at night, it’s a threat the firm has been able to manage with the right tools and policies..

"It’s better to work with one platform, one technology and one vendor which has control over multiple different environments."

Amjad Khan - Infrastructure Engineer, Carey Group

A UNIFIED APPROACH

In 2018, Amjad realized that the firm’s endpoint protection was unable to manage mounting cyber risk. Reliant for years on Microsoft Windows Defender, the Carey Group had avoided a major breach, and Amjad wanted to keep it that way.

After evaluating several vendors, he selected Trend Micro due to not only the breadth of protection offered by the Trend Micro Apex One™ endpoint security suite, but also the prospect of combining it with cloud security, detection and response capabilities, and web gateway protection, from a single platform. The firm has since expanded its Trend Micro portfolio to include Trend Micro™ Cloud App Security and Trend Micro™ Web Security to bolster its email and web gateway protection for 30,000 apps.

SIMPLE, POWERFUL SECURITY

The Carey Group had already run a business continuity plan in 2018, so it was well prepared for the rapid shift to remote working that came with the emergence of COVID in early 2020. However, the SaaS deployment model used by Trend Micro’s solutions made the transition even more seamless, according to Amjad.

“When COVID struck we didn’t really need to introduce any drastic changes. We just followed the plan, and everything worked pretty well for us,” he says. “Trend Micro was deployed on our endpoint devices so we had eyes on our teams and on whether they were connected from the corporate network or home. In addition, Cloud App Security was doing its job by checking everything from a cloud aspect. So overall it was a very smooth transition for us.”

Consolidating onto a single vendor has also made Amjad’s life easier in terms of training team members up on the tools, keeping threats at bay, and simplifying support calls.

“It’s better to work with one platform, one technology and one vendor which has control over multiple different environments,” he concludes. “It’s easier for my team to learn about the technology, and optimized security for my data and systems. We tend to receive so many phishing and whaling attacks and our solutions pick up and defend against all of them.”

"Trend Micro was deployed on our endpoint devices so we had eyes on our teams and on whether they were connected from the corporate network or home. In addition, Cloud App Security was doing its job by checking everything from a cloud aspect. So overall it was a very smooth transition for us."

Amjad Khan - Infrastructure Engineer. Carey Group

Technologies

Apex One™ Trend Micro Cloud App Security™

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.