What happens when you take an organization with 600+ siloed projects and 150+ decision-makers and distill it down to a laser-focused, value-driven engine? 🚀

Meet Esmeralda Waterreus, the current CIO at Pharming and former VP & Global Head of the Enterprise Portfolio Group at Philips and a nominee for the European CIO of the Year at #CIONETAwards2026.

Esmeralda stepped into a massive challenge: transforming how a global giant invests in digital. By shifting the accountability from IT back to the business and moving from annual budgets to a quarterly "agile cadence," she didn't just cut noise—she tripled cost savings and drove massive top-line growth.

Hendrik Deckers, Founder of CIONET, sat down with Esmeralda in Amsterdam to uncover the "human side" of high-stakes digital transformation in this latest #LeadershipDeepDive.

💡 What you’ll find in this episode:

- The 96% Success Rate: By discontinuing 75% of existing projects and focusing only on what delivered true patient and consumer value, Esmeralda’s team at Philips boosted on-time delivery from roughly 50% to a staggering 96%. 📈

- Predictive over Reactive: Esmeralda believes the future of AI isn't just in delivery—it’s in prediction. AI will help leaders decide what to build before a project even starts by calculating where the most value lies. 🤖

- The "Umbrella Effect": A leader’s job is to provide trust and protection. Esmeralda uses the "umbrella effect" to shield her teams from corporate noise, allowing them to focus, experiment, and—most importantly—be brave enough to fail. ☂️

🏆 Join the Celebration of Top Digital Leadership!

Want to hear more from the leaders redefining the digital landscape? Don't miss the big reveal of the winners!

📅 When: 25 March 2026

📍 Where: London

Register here: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-3

Let’s see who takes home the trophy! 🥂

What happens when you take the "Challenger" mindset of Revolut and plug it into a global banking giant like Santander? ⚡️

Meet Felipe Peñacoba Martinez, the CEO of PagoNxt Payments Hub. After helping scale Revolut to over 50 million customers and securing its status as a "significant bank" supervised by the ECB , Felipe has returned to his roots to lead one of the most ambitious transformations in the financial world.

Hendrik Deckers, Founder of CIONET sat down with Felipe to uncover how he bridges the gap between "move fast and break things" and "highly regulated global banking" in the next #LeadershipDeepDive interview.

Here are three "Golden Nuggets" from our deep dive:

- The "Hammer and Nail" Trap: Don't look at AI just for the sake of it. If you start with the solution before you've defined the problem, every tool looks like a hammer and every project looks like a nail. 🔨

- The 80% Rule: At Revolut, Felipe saw how AI-powered chatbots now resolve 80% of customer queries instantly. That’s not just cost-saving; it’s a total reimagining of customer satisfaction. 🤖

- The "Lucky" First Time: Getting it right on the first try is often just luck.

Felipe argues that you learn more from failing three or four times because then you actually understand why it eventually works. 📈

Felipe is a nominee for the European CIO of the Year at #CIONETAwards2026, and his insights on cloud-native architecture, talent acquisition, and digital transformation are a masterclass for any tech leader.

🏆 Join the Celebration!

Want to hear more from the leaders redefining the digital landscape? Don't miss the big reveal!

📅 When: 25 March 2026 📍 Where: London

👉 Register here to join the CIONET Awards 2026

https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-3

Let’s see who takes home the trophy! 🥂

#DigitalLeadership #Fintech #CIO #CTO #Innovation #BankingTransformation #PagoNxt #Revolut

Is your CIO a "Swiss Army Knife" or just a cost center? If you're still viewing IT as a back-office "black magic" shop, you're already behind. Meet Michał Paprocki, Group CIO at Euroclear and a #CIONETAwards2026 nominee, who is fundamentally redefining the role of the modern digital leader. Michał isn't just "running systems"; he's managing 35% of the total workforce and oversight of 40% of the cost base for a global settlement house moving the GDP of Belgium twice a day. How does he do it? By becoming the "Great Enabler." 🚀 The Euroclear Transformation Masterclass:

D² FMI Strategy: Moving beyond traditional settlement into a "Data and Digital" powerhouse using blockchain and AI to satisfy evolving client needs.

The "Obeya" Method: Implementing a visual management "cockpit" for the entire Executive Committee to ensure total transparency and strategic alignment.

AI for the People: Rolling out Co-pilots to every single employee with a bold target of 20% productivity savings.

Digital Native Bonds: Launching a production-grade blockchain platform that issued a €1 billion digital bond for the World Bank.

💡 Michał's Secret Sauce for Leadership: Michał recruits for two non-negotiable traits: Curiosity and Courage. As he puts it (channeling his inner Master Yoda), "You must unlearn what you have learned." In a world of generative AI and quantum leaps, complacency is the only true knockout criterion. 🏆 Witness the Future of Digital Leadership Want to hear more about how the world's top digital leaders are pivoting from infrastructure to innovation? Listen to the full #LeadershipDeepDive interview!

#CIONET #DigitalLeadership #CIO #CTO #Innovation #FinTech #Blockchain #AI ​​#Euroclear #Leadership #CIONETAwards2026 @CIONET Belgium

From Greek Gods to 35% Cost Reductions: How Vanessa Escrivá is Rewriting the Insurance Playbook!

What do Zeus, Athena, and a 35% reduction in TCO have in common? They are all part of the massive digital revolution led by Vanessa Escrivá, Group Chief Technology and Data Officer at Mapfre!

In an industry often tethered to legacy, Vanessa has steered a global giant present in over 100 countries through a transformation that is nothing short of legendary. Forget "IT as a support function"—Vanessa has turned technology into the very heart of the business.

The Mapfre Masterclass:

The "Reef" Ecosystem: Moving away from monoliths to a modular, microservices-driven "SaaS" model for global operations.

Atena (Athena): A global data platform powered by Snowflake that treats data as the "visionary key" to the future.

Zeus Engineering: A Greek God-inspired platform standardising how internal and external providers develop software.

Hybrid Cloud Mastery: Balancing the best of on-prem and cloud with a strict 50/50 split to avoid vendor lock-in.

The Secret Sauce?

Vanessa isn't just about the tech; she’s about the people. Her philosophy is simple: The team comes before the strategy. By fostering an "ESFJ" leadership style—open, transparent, and intensely practical—she has bridged the gap between complex IT languages and business goals.

"I really believe that IT is not support anymore... it is the company."

🏆 Meet the Nominee & Get Inspired!

Vanessa’s journey from IT Auditor to Group CIO is a blueprint for the next generation of digital leaders. Want to hear more about how she decommissioned legacy systems with "Big Bang" courage and why she believes the days of massive outsourcing are over?

Don’t miss out! Watch the #LeadershipDeepDive interview as we celebrate the visionaries shaping our digital world.

In the newest CIONET Podcast episode, Simone Rizzo, CISO at CCR Commercial Refrigeration, who is a nominee in the CIONET Awards 2026 in the Cybersecurity category, sits down with Daniel Eycken to discuss the journey leading a high-stakes "clean, controlled, and compliant" separation following the acquisition by Haier Europe.

Don’t miss the panel where Simone and other CIONET Awards 2026 nominees will share more about their cybersecurity journeys 👉 https://hubs.la/Q03_RQGl0!

Operating across 20 countries with over 3,000 employees, CCR faced a monumental challenge: rebuilding a security stack from scratch while maintaining total operational stability. For Simone, this wasn't just a technical migration—it was an opportunity to replace complexity with a "simple and clean" architecture designed for the future.

What you will find in this interview:

🚀 The "Simple & Clean" Mantra: Why avoiding complexity is the ultimate defense in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.

🚀 Security by Design: Using regulatory pressures like NIS2 and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) as catalysts for independent, modern architecture.

🚀 The Power of Co-Design: Moving away from "imposing" controls to working side-by-side with networking and infrastructure teams.

🚀 Identity as the New Boundary: How re-establishing identity services and segregation of duties dramatically improved CCR’s risk posture.

🚀 From Remediator to Predictor: Why the next generation of CISOs must focus on protecting the service-based business models of tomorrow.

Don’t forget to register for the Virtual Awards Ceremony on February 12th — powered by our partner, Splunk — to find out who wins CIONET Awards in the Cloud & Infrastructure and Cybersecurity categories 👉 https://hubs.la/Q03_RQGl0!

In the highly regulated and rapidly evolving world of banking, how do you maintain a competitive edge while ensuring impenetrable security?

In the latest CIONET Podcast, we are joined by Krzysztof Słotwiński, Chief Security Officer at BNP Paribas Bank Polska and a CIONET 2026 Award Nominee in the Cybersecurity category. With over 20 years of experience across international financial institutions, Krzysztof is a leading voice on the intersection of innovation and resilience.

Key takeaways from this episode:

🔹 Resilience by Design: How BNP Paribas integrates security into the very fabric of its digital transformation projects.

🔹 Navigating Complexity: Strategies for managing cybersecurity, business continuity, and open banking in a multi-market environment.

🔹 The Human Element: Why fostering a security-first culture is as vital as the most advanced technical defences.

🏆 Join us for the CIONET Awards 2026

Krzysztof is a finalist in the prestigious Cybersecurity category. To hear from him and our other visionary nominees—and to find out who will take home the top honours—make sure to join our online celebration.

Register now for the CIONET Awards Part 2 Online Ceremony on 12th February. Connect with our global community, engage with the nominees, and be there when the winners are announced!

👉 Register your place here: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-2

#CIONET #CyberSecurity #DigitalLeadership #FinTech #BankingInnovation #CIONETAwards #DigitalTransformation #CSO #TechLeaders

In this compelling episode of the CIONET Podcast, Daniel Eycken, Partner and COO at CIONET is joined by Major General Pierre Ciparisse, Commander of the Belgian Cyber ​​Force and a CIONET 2026 Award Nominee in the Cybersecurity category. From his background in satellite communications to leading the modernization of national defense capabilities, Pierre provides a masterclass in building a culture of "security by design."

Key insights from this interview:

🔹 The New Command: Lessons from standing up a dedicated national Cyber ​​Force.

🔹 Adaptive Security Culture: Why technology alone isn't enough to mitigate modern risk.

🔹 Sovereign Capabilities: Strategies for maintaining control over digital assets and infrastructure in a globalized world.

Join us for the #CIONETAwards2026 Part 2! Major General Pierre Ciparisse is a finalist in the prestigious Cybersecurity category. To hear more about his vision and the groundbreaking work of our other finalists, don't miss the official ceremony.

Register now for the CIONET Awards Part 2 Online Ceremony on February 12th. Join our global community to hear from all the nominees and find out who will be crowned the winner!

👉 Register your place here: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-2

#CIONET #CyberSecurity #DigitalLeadership #CyberForce #TechNominee #NationalSecurity #DigitalTransformation #CIONETAwards

How do you protect critical infrastructure that millions of people rely on every day? In this episode, Olga Forné, Global CISO at Abertis - who is a nominee for the CIONET Awards 2026 in the Cybersecurity category - sits down with Daniel Eycken to discuss her journey transforming cybersecurity from a fragmented, reactive function into a "nervous system" for global business resilience.

Don’t miss the panel where Olga and other CIONET Awards 2026 nominees will share more about their cybersecurity journeys 👉 https://hubs.la/Q03_RQGl0!

Abertis operates high-capacity roads and mobility services across Europe, the Americas, and India. Managing a complex mix of IT and OT requires more than just technical fixes—it requires a deep understanding of human culture and business risk.

Make sure you watch the full conversation for key insights:

🚀 The Three Pillars: Why Governance, Operational Resilience, and Cultural Change must be sequenced for long-term success.

🚀 Alignment Without Imposition: How to build a global security community across 12 business units without relying on hierarchical authority.

🚀 IT/OT Convergence: Protecting legacy industrial systems while maintaining the continuous flow of traffic and tolling operations.

🚀 Speaking the Language of Risk: Moving executive conversations away from "vulnerabilities" and toward "business continuity."

🚀 Human-Centric Leadership: Olga’s unique approach to preventing burnout and building trust-based teams.

Register for the Virtual Awards Ceremony on February 12th - powered by our partner, Splunk - to find out who wins CIONET Awards in the Cloud&Infrastructure and Cybersecurity categories 👉 https://hubs.la/Q03_RQGl0!

In our latest podcast, Laura Garrido, CTO at Ferrovial, who is as a Nominee for the CIONET Awards 2026 in the Cloud & Infrastructure category, sits down with Daniel Eycken to pull back the curtain on Ferrovial’s "Industrialized Digital Foundation"—a massive multi-year transformation that synchronized technology across 15 countries and 25,000 employees.

Register for the Virtual Awards Ceremony on February 12th to find out who wins this prestigious title 👉 https://hubs.la/Q03_RQGl0!

In this episode, Laura shares how her team balanced rigid compliance with the flexibility needed for innovation - from the high-stakes pressure of a NASDAQ listing to achieving a 30% reduction in data center costs.

Highlights of the conversation include:

- Industrialization at Scale: How the "X-rators" and "Infinity" programs unified a fragmented global footprint.

- Empowering Developers: Building a framework that prioritizes autonomy without sacrificing security.

- The AI Foundation: Why meticulous documentation is the secret to moving from human-in-the-loop to autonomous AI agents.

- The "Best Mistake": Why shifting from total centralization to a "service flavor" model was the key to business buy-in.

Don’t miss the panel on February 12th, where Laura will share more about her journey, powered by our trusted partner, Splunk 👉 https://hubs.la/Q03_RQGl0

In the next CIONET Podcast, Daniel Eycken (COO, CIONET) sits down with Francesco Ciuccarelli (Chief Innovation & Technology Officer at Alpitour World) - who is a Nominee for the CIONET Awards 2026 in the Cloud & Infrastructure category.

Don’t forget to register to CIONET Awards Virtual Ceremony on February 12, to find out who wins this prestigious title 👉 https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-2!

Francesco discusses his role at Alpitour World and the company's shift to a cloud-native architecture. He emphasises the importance of innovation and the successful decommissioning of a mainframe. The conversation touches on Alpitour's growth, pandemic challenges, and AI-driven solutions. Francesco shares insights on leadership, motivation, and future technologies like blockchain and quantum computing, stressing the need for business engagement in transformation efforts.

Watch the full interview for a deep dive into key leadership insights!