On May 27, CIONET Netherlands hosted an exclusive CIO Vision Dinner at the iconic Restaurant De Kas in Amsterdam bringing together digital leaders from the Banking & Insurance sector for an evening focused on one of the industry's most urgent challenges: unlocking the full potential of AI and data, while radically reducing costs and complexity.
Set in a historic greenhouse-turned-restaurant, De Kas offered more than just seasonal, farm-to-table cuisine. It served as a fitting metaphor for sustainable transformation, grounded in fresh thinking, local roots, and a focus on long-term impact. Against this inspiring backdrop, attendees engaged in high-level dialogue about the future of technology, strategy, and regulation in financial services with digital leaders and experts from Axivant and Hitachi Vantara.
The evening centred on how CIOs can drive business value from AI and data while managing increasing pressure to modernize core systems and meet regulatory expectations. Several key themes emerged throughout the dinner:
CIOs widely acknowledged the shift from storing data to extracting real-time business insights. While many organizations are experimenting with AI through pilots and small-scale use cases, few have achieved large-scale deployment, often due to fragmented systems and the absence of a cohesive data strategy.
One of the clearest takeaways was the need to align IT and business goals. Moving away from siloed AI initiatives toward embedded, enterprise-wide intelligence is seen as critical to long-term ROI.
Legacy content systems continue to generate hidden costs and complexity. Modernizing enterprise content through consolidation, standardization, and lifecycle automation emerged as a high-impact opportunity, with the potential to reduce costs by up to 70% while laying the foundation for scalable AI.
The group also explored how financial institutions can innovate responsibly. Regulatory complexity, explainability, and ethical AI are no longer side topics, they’re central to any serious AI strategy. Ensuring compliance while embracing innovation is now a core competency for CIOs.
There was a shared recognition that sustainable AI adoption depends not only on systems, but on people and culture. Organizations are increasingly investing in upskilling, governance, and data literacy to build trust and enable data-driven transformation at scale.
The CIO Vision Dinner reaffirmed a powerful insight: AI and data transformation is not a technology project, it’s a business imperative. While each organization is at a different stage, there is a shared journey underway: from experimentation to execution, from siloed efforts to enterprise-wide strategies, and from raw data to real business outcomes.
We thank all participants for their openness, energy, and vision. As the financial sector continues to evolve, evenings like this grounded in real dialogue and shared ambition play a vital role in shaping what comes next.
A big thank you to all our guests, speakers, and co-hosts for contributing to such an inspiring and insightful evening. Special thanks to the experts from Axivant and Hitachi Vantara for setting the scene with sharp perspectives and real-world examples. We hope the discussions sparked fresh ideas, meaningful connections, and new ways of thinking about AI, innovation, and reducing complexity.
Curious to dive deeper into the topics discussed, or explore how to tackle technology debt while still embracing innovation? We’d love to continue the conversation, feel free to reach out!
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