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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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URUS adopts Trend Micro central dashboard, policies, and machine learning to strengthen global security

URUS Group, a global leader in agricultural genetics, has streamlined its security operations with Trend Micro Apex Central. By providing a unified platform for managing diverse IT environments, Apex Central offers real-time visibility and control, enabling URUS to effectively protect its valuable data and systems.

OVERVIEW

URUS Group was established to meet the needs of dairy farmers and beef farmers worldwide. As a holding company with cooperative and private owners, URUS Group connects renowned organizations such as Alta Genetics, GENEX, Jetstream Genetics, PEAK, SCCL, and VAS. Each of these organizations has its own identity and unique products and services. These companies provide cutting-edge genetics for genetic progress, tailor-made livestock reproduction services, and sophisticated livestock management software and services.

 

"We have minimal management, so Trend Micro Apex Central offers a real-time overview of the complete client environment, at all times."

Egbert Nijboer- IT / Security Manager URUS

 
 
 

CHALLENGES & WHY TREND MICRO

To support these activities optimally, the IT environment has been centralized. The step to the cloud was also taken in that process. The Dutch branch of the URUS group has been using Trend Micro technology to protect all layers of the IT environment since 1998. As a long-time Trend Micro™ OfficeScan ™ customer, URUS has now migrated to Trend Micro Apex One ™ for their endpoints worldwide. The organization has secured their cloud server environment with Trend Micro Cloud One - Workload Security and their on-premises environment with Trend Micro Deep Security software. In addition to the high level of security, the possibility of central management that Trend Micro provides is important to URUS. “Although we have also tried other products for antivirus and malware, they were not at the same level as Trend Micro”, says Egbert Nijboer, IT / Security Manager at URUS. “The contacts were very good and I was involved in the pilot project for the development of Trend Micro Apex One ™ as a Service at an early stage”.

 

"With Trend Micro Safe Lock we can continue to use our human interface machines in a safe manner and without major risks."

Egbert Nijboer - IT / Security Manager URUS

 
 

SOLUTION

Trend Micro Apex One was ready for installation in 2019. However, URUS saw the number of ransomware attacks rapidly increase worldwide and decided to speed up the installation of Trend Micro Apex One to ensure they were sufficiently prepared.

URUS uses Trend Micro Apex One to protect all endpoints, including clients, laptops, and the Microsoft® Windows® servers in Azure and on-premises. “It is a great advantage for us that we can control everything centrally from the cloud, both from our private cloud and from Azure”. Nijboer also saves time with patching without having to compromise on security. “With Trend Micro Apex One, patches are automatically planned and rolled out, and zero-day risks are also closed immediately. In addition, virtual patching prevents us from running risks because a supplier does not deliver patches on time. So we know for sure that we are optimally secured”. With the addition of Trend Micro Apex Central, which acts as the dashboard of Trend Micro Apex One, Nijboer now benefits from direct insight into possible vulnerabilities within his organization.

 
 

RESULTS

With Trend Micro Apex One, URUS has the ability to apply policies centrally and roll out adjustments in one go.  “We have minimal management efforts and Trend Micro Apex Central offers an up-to-date overview of the complete client environment at all times”, says Nijboer. “Previously, management was divided by region. Now we can apply and adjust policies centrally, and patches are immediately widely rolled out. We use nine policies, and if there is a new client, we link the correct policy to it. This way we can be sure that all clients comply with the policy that we have set up for this”.

Due to their success using Trend Micro Apex One the Netherlands and Canada, URUS has made the decision to expand the solution across their environments in the US.

To protect their servers and lab equipment, URUS decided to deploy Workload Security. “This was a new solution for us. Together with Trend Micro, we have set up a dashboard and rolled it out on the servers for Microsoft 365 and our ERP system, among others. We immediately had better insight into the functioning of the servers. Through indepth analysis, we can now see whether there are vulnerabilities, but also, for example, unauthorized connections between servers”.

Application controls and virtual patching have given URUS more control over security, while the use of machine learning also offers predictive options. “With Workload Security, we not only have a good overview of all communication in the network, but also at server level. The ® dashboard provides insight into everything that is happening, and what applies to the clients now also applies to the servers”.

In addition, Nijboer is pleased by the fact that Trend Micro has made Workload Security also available for AWS, opening doors for URUS to work across multiple cloud platforms without having to organize their security differently. “We therefore maintain maximum control over the security of our entire environment. We can effectively monitor all signals via the central dashboard. Moreover, the rollout and patching is fully automated based on policies. This allows us to fully concentrate on our core tasks and to continue to grow flexibly, while security automatically grows.”

 

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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Team

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