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Belgium 21-4-26 Invitation Only Physical english

From Victim to Victor: Cyber resilience is a means, providing Business Continuity the goal

In an era where every outage, audit, and cyberattack is a test of organisational survival, resilience has become the new currency of trust. While traditional perimeter security with: firewalls, intrusion detection, and scanners, remains essential, it is no longer a sufficient guarantee against modern threats that bypass these layers to penetrate your core systems. Today, enterprises require security and continuity that are built-in, not bolted-on. This CIONET roundtable focuses on the shift from reactive disaster recovery to proactive Business Continuity. Together with experts from HPE Zerto, we will explore how organisations can transform their recovery strategies into seamless continuity models.

Belgium 23-4-26 Country Members Physical & Virtual english

CIOFEST BELGIUM: Leadership in the Agentic Era

AI is no longer confined to supporting human tasks. We are entering the agentic era, where autonomous systems act on behalf of people and organisations. These agents can gather information, make decisions, negotiate terms, and even complete transactions. The implications extend well beyond technology; they touch the very foundations of business models, governance, and leadership. For CIOs and their peers, the rise of “machine customers” and autonomous partners poses new questions: Market impact: How do you compete and create value when some customers and suppliers are machines? Governance: What trust, compliance, and accountability structures are needed when AI acts independently in financial, procurement, or customer-facing processes? Leadership: How should CIOs guide their organisations in redefining roles, responsibilities, and decision-making when agents take over parts of the value chain?Business strategy: What opportunities emerge for new revenue models, platforms, and ecosystems shaped by autonomous interaction? This session shifts the focus from the mechanics of AI agents to the decisions that will shape leadership in the next decade. It is a call for CIOs to prepare for a future where relationships, markets, and strategies are no longer limited to human-to-human interactions, but also extend to human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions.

Belgium 29-4-26 Invitation Only Physical english

Building Future-Ready Application Ecosystems in the Age of Intelligent Automation

This CIONET workshop is a collaborative deep-dive into the practicalities of"rewiring the building" while it’s still occupied. Drawing onKyndryl’s deep heritage in mission-critical infrastructure and their latestresearch, we will dismantle the "hidden costs" of legacyenvironments. The conversation will focus on the transition from static,monolithic structures to composable architectures that allow intelligent agentsto operate seamlessly across hybrid landscapes.

April 2, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

Taming the SaaS Sprawl: Tracking spend, ownership, and usage before it slips out of control

SaaS gave business units freedom: quick onboarding, no infrastructure, and instant results. But over time, that freedom turned into fragmentation. Each team now buys, renews, and configures its own stack. HR has one platform, finance has another, and marketing probably has ten. The invoices keep coming, usage keeps dropping, and no one is sure who’s accountable for what.

May 12, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Product-Centric IT 2.0: Blending product and project thinking

Everyone says they’ve gone product-centric. In reality, most organisations live in a hybrid world where projects, products, and platforms overlap. Teams manage releases while still chasing deadlines, and governance still thinks in milestones rather than outcomes. The shift is underway, but the mindset hasn’t caught up.

May 19, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

AI vs AI in Cybersecurity: When defenders and attackers both use AI

The game has changed, clearly. Attackers have AI, defenders have AI, and both sides are learning faster than anyone expected, or maybe the attackers are just a bit faster. What used to take hours now happens in seconds, and detection windows close before alerts even appear. It’s adaptation beyond automation, and no one gets to sit still.

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How HyperJar slashed first response times by 94% with AI

As a mobile banking app, HyperJar's customers expect a UX that's quick and convenient. They turned to Ultimate's automation platform to deliver on this promise — and it's paying dividends.

HyperJar at a glance

The customer

HyperJar is a free, prepaid debit card and money app designed for everyone.

The market

They serve customers in English, across the UK.

The support team

HyperJar has a support team of 33 agents.

The channels

HyperJar offers support via chat in the mobile app and on desktop. They manage queries through their CRM, Zendesk.

The situation

They were looking to automate industry-specific use cases so agents could focus on providing the best possible support, based on a balanced approach between AI and humans.

The solution

With Ultimate, they found an automation platform tailored to the finserv industry. They use API integrations to automate common queries so agents are free to focus on the more complex ones.

Getting started with Ultimate

As an innovative finserv company, HyperJar was looking to cash in on their automation potential in order to stay ahead of the competition in their industry. Jake Samson, Systems Manager at HyperJar, said it best, “There’s no running from it, AI is here. You have to embrace it or you’ll fall behind.” After seeing some demos and comparing our competitors on G2, we shined as the best option for them.

With our extensive experience working in the finserv industry, we aligned with their commitment to make life simple and convenient for their customers by using AI to provide faster and more accessible support. Together, with their Customer Success Manager at Ultimate, Kasia, they mapped the most impactful use cases for automation – such as replacing lost cards and checking card delivery status – while still making it easy for customers to escalate to an agent when needed. Of the onboarding journey, Jake recalls, “It was a really smooth process. It’s a very user-friendly platform. It was a very structured training program, and we went live within the first 4 weeks.”

And because they were committed to automating each use case in a gradual way, they weren’t banking on seeing such impressive results so quickly. They’ve already cut their first response times (FRT) by 94% – all while maintaining a 97% CSAT score. With CX automation, customers can have speedier support and their agents are freed up to provide a human touch where needed.

“Everywhere I go, I recommend Ultimate as the platform you need to go with when you’re deciding to automate. As our Trustpilot reviewers say, ‘it’s a bot that actually knows what to do!’”

Jake Samson
Systems Manager, HyperJar

First contact resolution rate: 90%

CSAT score: 97%

Reduction in FRT: 94%

AI use case spotlight #1: Eliminating escalations for replacing lost cards

Replacing cards accounts for 16% of queries at HyperJar. Before automation, doing so required a 15-20 minute conversation with a human agent – not counting wait times.
This repetitive request proved to be a perfect use case for automation. With the help of our finserv-specialized API integrations, they were able to fully automate it within a few weeks.
HyperJar has completely eliminated agent escalations on this intent, and cut the time to resolution to under 2 minutes – contributing to an 90% overall reduction in FCR.

AI use case spotlight #2: Enabling agents to provide more human CX

Right from the outset, HyperJar knew their goal was to find the sweet spot by offering excellent customer service through CX automation while maintaining a human touch where needed, such as when resolving payment disputes.
Our approach to automation still makes it easy for customers to reach an agent as needed by designing smart escalation paths, rather than centering a deflection at all costs approach.
Because they were able to automate their most repetitive tasks, agents are free to provide that little bit of extra care to customers and to go the extra mile on complex queries. Since automating, HyperJar has maintained a stellar 97% CSAT and 4.7 stars on Trustpilot.

The success story

Instant Zendesk integration

The fact that our automation solution fits seamlessly into their CRM was a deal maker for HyperJar. Our one-click integration with Zendesk enabled them to get started with automation quickly and easily.

Insightful analytics

Our comprehensive analytics help HyperJar to pinpoint their top use cases for automation. This data also enables them to better understand their customers by making it easier to monitor conversations more closely.

Industry-leading results

HyperJar knew that automation was key to getting a leg up on competitors by providing the best possible CX. They’ve managed to achieve better operational efficiency, boasting a 94% reduction in FRT since automating, and a 42% automation rate overall.

Improved customer experience

HyperJar has achieved a 90% FCR by automating repetitive intents, and agents now have more time to focus on providing faster support on their more complex queries. They have maintained a 97% CSAT since launching their bot.

Next on their automation journey

After so much success with automating the lost card use case, HyperJar is now looking to automate six more of their most common customer intents such as checking card delivery status.

Ultimate is a platform that grows with them as their automation journey coincides with the evolution of their product. For example, they've recently begun issuing customer vouchers and rewards, and were able to automate this process right from the start.

They are also curious to try our generative AI-powered chatbot, UltimateGPT, as a way to capture the long tail of customer queries and enhance the conversational TOV of their bot as they continue to design new dialogue flows.

Technologies

Ultimate: Chat automation Zendesk: A CRM Platform

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.