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Belgium 10-3-26 All Members Physical english

The Composable Enterprise: Engineered with AI

From modular business design to AI-driven pipelines, architectures, and operationsA composable enterprise is built on modular processes, API-driven ecosystems, low-code platforms, and cloud-native services. It promises speed and adaptability by allowing organisations to reconfigure their capabilities as conditions change. However, modular design alone does not guarantee resilience; the way these systems are engineered and operated is just as important.This is where AI is beginning to make a difference. Beyond generating snippets of code, AI is already influencing how entire systems are developed and run: accelerating CI/CD pipelines, improving test coverage, optimising Infrastructure-as-Code, sharpening observability, and even shaping architectural decisions. These changes directly affect how quickly new business components can be deployed, connected, and retired.In this session, we will examine how CIOs can bring these two movements together:Composable design is the framework for flexibility and modularity.AI-augmented engineering is the force that delivers the speed, quality, and intelligence needed to sustain it.The pitfalls of treating them in isolation: composability that collapses under slow engineering cycles, or AI that only adds complexity without a modular structure.The discussion goes beyond concepts to practical implications: how to architect organisations that can be recomposed at speed, without losing control or reliability. The outcome is an enterprise that is not only modular in design but also engineered to adapt continuously under real-world conditions.

Belgium 12-3-26 Physical english

The Third-Party Risk Reckoning: How far can you trust your vendors?

Tomato! Tomato! Tomato! Get your tomato now! Every vendor sells security. And every company depends on vendors, partners, and suppliers. The more digital the business becomes, the longer that list grows, and so does the attack surface. One weak link, and there is always one, or one missed update, and trust collapses faster than any firewall can react. What used to be a procurement checklist has become a full-time discipline. Questionnaires, audits, and endless documentation prove that everyone’s “compliant,” yet incidents keep happening. So it’s clear: the issue isn’t lack of policy, or maybe a bit, but mostly lack of visibility. Beyond a certain point, even the most secure organisation is only as safe as its least prepared partner (or an employee who hadn’t had their morning coffee). So how far can you trust your vendors? How do you check what you can’t control? And when does assurance become theatre instead of protection? Does it come at a different cost? Let’s exchange what works and what fails in third-party risk management: live monitoring, shared responsibility models, contractual levers, and the reality of building trust in a chain you don’t own. A closed conversation for those redefining what partnership means when risk is shared but accountability isn’t.

Belgium 19-3-26 Country Members Physical french

Vendor Detox: La consolidation vaut-elle le risque ?

Moins de Partenaires : La consolidation vaut-elle le risque ? Le problème est la prolifération des fournisseurs : trop d'outils causant de la complexité, une taxe d'intégration paralysante et de la redondance. La Taxe d'Intégration est le coût caché (en temps, en échecs et en ressources) d'essayer de faire fonctionner ensemble des systèmes disparates. Cet échange se concentre sur des stratégies éprouvées pour simplifier de manière agressive le parc technologique, consolider les fournisseurs et élever certains fournisseurs clés au rang de partenaires stratégiques.

March 12, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

The Third-Party Risk Reckoning: How far can you trust your vendors?

March 24, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Killing Zombie Projects: Knowing when to stop, restart, or quietly let go

Every organisation has them, projects that keep running long after their purpose has faded. No one remembers who asked for them, but shutting them down feels riskier than keeping them alive. And eventually, people stay assigned, budgets stay allocated, and energy drains into work that no longer matters. Inertia at its finest.

March 26, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Measuring Value in AI Initiatives: Defining ROI, accountability, and measurable outcomes in complex environments

AI projects continue to multiply, but proving their value remains difficult. Most organisations can track activity, not impact. Dashboards count pilots and models, yet few translate to measurable business outcomes. The result is familiar: success stories without clarity on what they actually delivered.

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Ellos Group achieves digital transformation with confidence

Achieves digital transformation with confidence

OVERVIEW

Swedish retail giant Ellos Group started as a mail-order pioneer in 1947. Generations grew up with the Ellos catalogs, thumbing through the pages, wishing, and dreaming. Catalog sales have now been replaced by more modern solutions, but Ellos remains an important component of daily life for millions in the Nordic region and Europe. Today, the purchasing process is fully digital—with Ellos providing its customers a secure online experience that is smooth, transparent, and easy to use.

CHALLENGES

Keeping both the company and its customers secure has been the biggest challenge. As Ellos transitions to encompass more markets and brands, the risk exposure only increases.

Ransomware is the primary threat Ellos faces today, which makes endpoint security critical to the company. Keeping the user experience well-protected and easily accessible also remains an ongoing concern. “One of the greatest challenges is to make the experience as transparent as possible. We want both customers and internal users to know that they are secure, but we don’t want that security to be intrusive,” says Markus Andersson, chief information officer.

WHY TREND

Ellos has been a happy Trend Micro customer since 2005. “When it comes to security, we want stability, and we’ve been very satisfied with Trend Micro,” says Andersson.

“A strong partner is necessary because security is such a niche expertise. You cannot stay ahead of everything because it’s happening so fast. We need access to full-time security experts, and if you don’t have that expertise in-house, that’s where a partner like Trend Micro comes in,” says Andersson.

Håkan Carlsson, operations support manager, also says Trend Micro’s customer service is a differentiator. “When you deal with big companies, it’s not often that you develop personal relationships like we have with Trend Micro. That is something that has really stood out,” says Carlsson.

Ellos benefitted from the ability to purchase through the AWS Marketplace. “Trend Micro worked very closely with Ellos to ensure that the company was able to maintain the aggressive discount it enjoyed from AWS Marketplace. It was a very smooth process,” says Carlsson.

"I think it’s super important to have a strong partner when it comes to cybersecurity."

Markus Andersson - Chief Information Officer, Ellos Group

SOLUTION

Trend Micro has consistently provided the solutions that Ellos has needed as it grows and evolves. “We’ve been following Trend Micro’s recommended upgrade path. The last thing we did was move to Trend Micro Apex One™ as a service to protect our endpoints,” says Andersson.

In fact, Trend Micro offers a broad range of solutions capable of meeting any security need, including an end-to-end security platform. As a result, Trend Micro has become a strong security partner for Ellos. “I think it’s super important to have a strong partner when it comes to cybersecurity,” says Andersson.

RESULTS

“Apex One has been one of the greatest endpoint security tools for us in avoiding my nightmare— ransomware—because it filters out everything. Some people might think that an email filter is not an advanced form of protection, but it’s actually the most important form of protection you can have. It’s been working great for us. Our security operations center (SOC) tells me that Apex One is the reason we have so few incidents,” says Andersson.

Andersson also noted that Trend Micro Apex One perfectly accommodates his goal of having nonintrusive security. “It doesn’t slow down the computer, which is my experience with other endpoint protection products. The user doesn’t even know that it’s there; it just works,” says Andersson.

WHAT'S NEXT

Andersson’s mission is to maintain the Ellos Group’s position as a digital leader in the ecommerce space in the Nordic region and in Europe. And there’s more work to be done in continuing and refining the digital transformation process, including more data analysis, increased personalization of content, and further incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).

Maintaining security is a necessity in supporting the ever-continuing process of transformation—particularly in the face of escalating threats. “Ellos has evolved with Trend Micro—and the partnership between these two industry leaders will likely continue to evolve for many years to come,” says Carlsson.

Technologies

Apex One™ Trend Micro Cloud App Security™

Partners

CIONET Business Circles

Healthcare Circle

Digital Transformation is redefining the future of health care and health delivery. All stakeholders are convinced that these innovations will create value for patients, healthcare practitioners, hospitals, and governments along the patient pathway. The benefits are starting from prevention and awareness to diagnosis, treatment, short- and long-term follow-up, and ultimately survival. But how do you make sure that your working towards an architecturally sound, secure and interoperable health IT ecosystem for your hospital and avoid implementing a hodgepodge of spot solutions? How does your IT department work together with the other stakeholders, such as the doctors and other healthcare practitioners, Life Sciences companies, Tech companies, regulators and your internal governance and administrative bodies?

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.