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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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UKG and Google Cloud Announce Partnership to Transform Employee Experiences with Generative AI

UKG is using gen AI to provide employees with more relevant business insights and help leaders more effectively manage their teams.

UKG will apply Google Cloud's large language models across its HCM suites to deliver more powerful insights to employees and people leaders

LOWELL, Mass. and WESTON, Fla. and SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Google Cloud and UKG, a leading provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people, today announced an expanded partnership to bring Google Cloud's generative AI (GenAI) capabilities into the widely adopted UKG human capital management (HCM) suites. UKG will leverage GenAI to create more powerful business insights that transform decision making and help leaders more effectively manage teams.

UKG is now an early partner using Google Cloud's enterprise-grade GenAI and large language models (LLMs) through Vertex AI, building applications for unified search AI and conversational AI. By combining Google Cloud's LLMs with UKG AI models and Great Place To Work® proprietary data, UKG will create more conversational interactions with its HCM solutions, augment employee requests with more relevant business insights, and support people managers with a deeper understanding of how business decisions can impact employee engagement.

"We believe GenAI can be a tremendously powerful tool that changes how people go about analyzing information and insights at work," said Hugo Sarrazin, chief product and technology officer at UKG. "Our collaboration with Google Cloud will help employees and leaders make better decisions, have more productive conversations, and anticipate how today's choices can impact tomorrow's operations and workplace culture overall."

UKG has a rich history of responsibly using AI across its HCM and workforce management solutions in service of people, including AI-powered analytics, sentiment analysis, real-time recommendations, proactive reminders, long-range forecasting, and payroll anomaly detection.

"UKG's application of Google Cloud LLMs and GenAI is a great example of how these technologies can streamline important but common processes at work and tangibly improve the day-to-day experience of employees everywhere," said Thomas Kurian, CEO at Google Cloud. "Our partnership to bring GenAI to more businesses will help build great, technology-forward workplaces and ensure that teams have access to the leading technology they want to engage with every day."

In addition to building new workplace applications with Google Cloud's GenAI, UKG is now one of the first HCM suite providers in the Google Cloud Marketplace. New and existing UKG customers can now allocate a portion of their committed Google Cloud spend to purchase UKG suites and other strategic UKG solutions through the marketplace.

UKG and Google Cloud have collaborated since 2016 to enable better employee experiences. UKG HCM suites and UKG specialty products run on Google Cloud's trusted infrastructure and unified data platform, while the UKG FleX technology platform for UKG solutions leverages Google Cloud to support innovation, extensibility, and advanced security.

"Our expanded partnership with Google Cloud is another chapter in our commitment to providing organizations around the world with the opportunity to move from a good workplace to a truly great workplace for all," said Chris Todd, CEO at UKG. "We are committed to exploring how all emerging technologies, including GenAI, can enhance the workplace experience for everyone."

About UKG

At UKG, our purpose is people. As strong believers in the power of culture and belonging as the secret to success, we champion great workplaces and build lifelong partnerships with our customers to show what's possible when businesses invest in their people. Born from a historic merger that created one of the world's leading HCM cloud companies, our Life-work Technology approach to HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people helps more than 75,000 organizations around the globe and across every industry anticipate and adapt to their employees' needs beyond just work. To learn more, visit ukg.com.

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology — all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

Copyright 2023 UKG Inc. All rights reserved. For a full list of UKG trademarks, please visit ukg.com/trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change.

SOURCE Google Cloud

Technologies

Google Cloud's Generative AI

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.