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Belgium 27-8-26 AB Members Physical english

Summer Festival: Advisory Board

CIO agendas are crowded: cost pressure, cyber, regulation, talent, data, AI, vendor dependency, business expectations. Most organisations are trying to do too much at once, and the “must-do” work often blocks the strategic work. CIONET only creates value if its agenda matches what CIOs truly need, in the right format, at the right time. The challenge Pick the few priorities that matter most for 2027, then translate them into a clear CIONET agenda. Outcome we leave with A ranked CIO agenda for 2027, and a directly aligned CIONET programme outline (themes, formats, cadence), with a shortlist of speaker and case targets.

Belgium 27-8-26 Country Members Physical english

Summerfest: From Story to Habit

How to align people, shift routines, and prove value Technology transformations often fail not because the tools don’t work, but because people don’t change their work habits. Boards want proof of value, executives want business outcomes, IT wants clarity, and employees want ease. Between these expectations, the CIO’s role is no longer just to deliver platforms; it is to tell the story that motivates people and turn that story into daily habits. This session will explore: The narrative: how to craft a simple, repeatable story that explains the “why” behind change for every stakeholder. From story to routine: practical ways to embed new behaviours through manager rituals, team incentives, and visible leadership. Reskilling and new expectations: preparing teams for evolving roles, from cross-department collaboration to AI-enhanced workflows. Measuring what matters: showing progress in speed, quality, and resilience — not just in licences bought or trainings completed. The aim is to equip CIOs with a leadership toolkit: a story that unites, habits that endure, and proof that convinces even the toughest boardroom.

Belgium 8-9-26 Invitation Only Virtual english

What an AI Architect Actually Does in Practice; Skills, responsibilities, interfaces, and career moves behind one of the most misunderstood emerging roles.

The AI architect role is becoming more visible, and the scope varies across organisations. The challenge is defining what the role owns, where it sits, and how it works with existing architecture, data, security, risk, and business teams. Three pressure points need clarity. - Role definition matters because the position can span solution architecture, data architecture, governance, integration, security, vendor selection, and business process design. - Interfaces matter because the role must connect teams while respecting existing responsibilities. - Skills matter because technical depth needs to be combined with judgement around controls, delivery choices, and operational boundaries. The working question is simple: how do we define the AI architect role so it becomes useful, credible, and connected to delivery? If this role is emerging in your organisation, let’s compare how others are defining it and where they are placing it.

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How Stitch Fix provides tailored CX and 29% faster responses with AI

Online personal styling service, Stitch Fix, provides CX that’s as tailored to their customers as their clothing recommendations. Learn how Stitch Fix provides personalized, 24/7 support that consistently delights its clients with the help of our no-code, customizable automation solution.

Stitch Fix at a glance

The customer

Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service offering today’s most convenient way to find clothes you love.

The market

They serve more than three million women, men, and kids across the US.

The support team

Their support team consists of 150 agents who provide customer service in English.

The channels

Customers can access Stitch Fix support via chat and email, which all filter into their CRM Zendesk.

The situation

Stitch Fix wanted to free up agents from repetitive tasks so they can focus on providing the highest quality CX at scale.

The solution

Stitch Fix uses Ultimate’s intuitive dialogue builder to tailor automated conversations. They’ve also successfully automated FAQs like creating return labels and checking order status so customers can manage their orders more quickly and easily.

Getting started with Ultimate

Stitch Fix is an online styling service committed to innovation and the pursuit of personalization — both in the clothing recommendations they provide and in their CX. That’s why they harness the power of cutting-edge automation technology to offer their customers consistently high-quality support with a personal touch. Ultimate’s automation solution stood out from the crowd on both counts. It enables their support team to develop and personalize a chatbot that met their high customer service standards.

With the help of features like our easy-to-use, customizable dialogue builder and API integrations they can continually improve and personalize the customer experience. The fact that Ultimate has a native integration with Zendesk — that's even used by the support team at Zendesk themself — made linking the two systems easy. And thanks to the hands-on training they received from Maeve, their Customer Support Manager, they began to see results from the first day that they launched.

In email and chat, their chatbot automatically categorizes their tickets and completes discovery work for their agents. It also provides immediate solutions for their most common FAQs. As Michael Peters, Business Systems Lead at Stitch Fix, explains it, “Our virtual agents help our clients receive a consistent experience with immediate resolutions for FAQs, while empowering our agents to focus on delivering personalized experiences for everything else.” Now celebrating their one-year anniversary with Ultimate, their chatbot fully handles ~15% of client tickets, across all channels — providing resolutions to client FAQs quicker than ever before. All of this culminates in higher-quality customer support, which customers can access around the clock.

"We wanted our CX team to directly craft the experience that our virtual agent would deliver. The bot-building UI was easy for our CX agents to pick up, and they have successfully been able to improve workflow efficiencies."

Michael Peters
Business Systems Lead, Stitch Fix

Quicker email resolutions: 22%

Reduction in chat AHT: 29%

Automation rate: 15%

AI use case spotlight #1: Easily customizable dialogue builder for more personalized support

The support team at Stitch Fix has found our no-code dialogue builder to be very easy to use, allowing agents to monitor and update the bot on the fly.
For example, if customers are experiencing carrier delays, agents can add new dialogue flows within minutes to address the reasons for the delay — no prior technical know-how required.
Agents can continuously improve the bot based on built-in analytics to provide the best possible CX based on the feedback they receive from customers – who are consistently impressed by their bot.

AI use case spotlight #2: A chatbot designed with the ecommerce industry in mind

Ultimate has experience building ecommerce bots for a roster of retail companies including Lush and Zalando — so Stitch Fix had access to an industry-tailored solution from the start.
Via our API integrations, for example, their bot validates customers’ data mid-flow. Once validated, the bot fetches customer details in order to auto-generate return labels, extend the checkout window, and provide real-time tracking updates on orders.
Their bot allows agents to spend more time providing personalized CX because automation takes care of their most repetitive FAQs.

The success story

Zendesk integration

The fact that Ultimate integrates with their CRM really sealed the deal for Stitch Fix. Our seamless integration offers an excellent complement to the Zendesk product by adding extra capabilities like categorization and wait time estimates.

Intuitive, no-code solution

Our easy-to-use automation tools made it possible for Stitch Fix to see results they wanted right from day one. They are also able to monitor and update their dialogues so that they can continuously improve their CX based on customer feedback.

Customized ecommerce flows

Automation was all the more effective for Stitch Fix because our API integrations made it possible to meet their industry specific use cases — from generating return labels to tracking orders.

Scalable support

With automation Stitch Fix achieved their goal of offering consistent, high quality support across all conversations and channels. They were able to achieve a 29% reduction in agent chat AHT and fully resolve client email tickets 22% quicker.

Next on their automation journey

Having had a successful year with their bot — and recently integrating ticket automation into their support stack — Stitch Fix has been inspired to deepen their partnership with Ultimate. In particular, they are excited to continue exploring ways to improve our clients' experience in finding help.

Currently, this means expanding support to new channels and exploring how automation can help facilitate support. They are working on launching Apple Messaging for Business as a new channel, something that will surely be a game changer in the ecommerce ecosystem. This enables them to expand their repertoire of omnichannel support so they can meet customers wherever and whenever it suits them most.

Technologies

Ultimate: Chat automation Ultimate: Ticket Automation Zendesk: A CRM Platform

Partners

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.