CIONET

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 latest CIONET Podcast, Daniel Eycken (COO, CIONET) sits down with Aleksander Gawroński (Head of IT Infrastructure, mBank) - who is a Nominee for the CIONET Awards 2026 in the Cloud & Infrastructure category - to discuss a transformation that turned a 25-year-old legacy landscape into a streamlined, automated, and AI-ready powerhouse. 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! Aleksander shares the "no exceptions" strategy that allowed mBank to build its own private cloud and adopt a dual-vendor public cloud policy—all while maintaining the strict security standards of a highly regulated financial institution. Watch the full interview for a deep dive into key leadership Insights: - Infrastructure as Code (IaC): At mBank, IaC isn't just a tool; it's a discipline. No system enters the cloud without meeting this quality gate. - The "Build vs. Buy" Culture: With 90% of their software built in-house, mBank chose to build its own Kubernetes-based private cloud to maintain full control and elasticity. - Operational Resilience: Why a dual-vendor strategy is essential for cost negotiation and mitigating geopolitical risks. - Leading by Example: Why Aleksander was the first person in the organization to get cloud-certified. - The "Best Mistake": Lessons learned from underestimating the cultural shift required for such a massive technological leap. As Aleksander puts it: "Build the foundations right, or your life will be a constant nightmare of running legacy." Don’t forget to register to CIONET Awards Virtual Ceremony to find out who wins this prestigious title 👉 https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-2!

In the latest episode of the CIONET Podcast, Daniel Eycken, Partner and COO of CIONET sat down with Paul Mukherjee, CTO at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). As a CIONET 2026 Award Nominee for Cloud & Infrastructure, Paul shares his transition from the private sector to driving large-scale innovation in the public sector. Key themes explored in this episode: 🔹 Strategic AI: Moving beyond the hype to implement a real-world, scalable AI strategy. 🔹 Infrastructure Modernisation: Lessons in building agility and resilience through cloud adoption. 🔹 Future-Proof Leadership: Why leading in 2026 requires a focus on both technological courage and organisational culture. Join us for the CIONET Awards 2026 Want to see the results? Paul is one of the standout nominees being recognised for his impact on the digital landscape. 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 in the Cybersecurity and Cloud & Infrastructure categories! 👉 Register your place here: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-2 #CIONET #DigitalLeadership #CTO #GovTech #CloudStrategy #AI #CIONETAwards #DigitalTransformation #UKTech

In this episode of the CIONET Podcast, Hendrik Deckers interviews, Carla Milovanov, the Group CIO at Landal, the nominee in the Applications & Architecture category during the #CIONETAwards2026 powered by Splunk. Register here to find out who wins this prestigious title: 👉 https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-1! Carla Milovanov shares her experiences in integrating two holiday park brands. She discusses the challenges of cultural integration, the need for a unified architecture, and the role of technology in enhancing customer experience. The conversation covers the importance of governance, stakeholder management, and strategic decision-making in managing large-scale transformations, while also addressing the impact of digital transformation and AI in the hospitality industry. Don’t miss the panel where Carla will share her accomplishments!

In this episode of the CIONET Podcast, Hendrik Deckers interviews Angélique Bidault-Verliac, the Chief Data & Performance Officer at SNCF Connect & Tech, the nominee in the Data & AI category during the #CIONETAwards2026. Register here to find out who wins this prestigious title: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-1! Angélique is the force behind the evolution of SNCF Connect & Tech from its strong digital foundation to becoming a data-driven and AI-augmented organisation. This transformation powers the SNCF Connect platform, which is used daily by millions of people in France. Angélique's work spans critical areas including customer data, performance management, and AI innovation, driving significant business impact. Angélique shares her career journey, which is rooted in a core conviction: data must be used to solve an issue or fix something important, not collected merely for pleasure5. This problem-solving approach is central to her belief that data should help people make better decisions. The conversation spotlights two major, impact-driven applications her team delivered: - My Retrainspective: This initiative, which began as an internal hackathon, provided customers with a "year-in-journey" retrospective. It compared the kilometres travelled by train to the CO2 emissions saved versus driving. The result was phenomenal, with over 5.6 million visits in one day, showcasing its high customer engagement and reputational return. - The Full Train Alert: Developed to address customer frustration over full trains, this feature allows users to subscribe to an alert for when a seat becomes available. The project was a great success, boosting client satisfaction, with one in two subscribers later booking a train. - She concludes by identifying the next big challenge as moving from mass segmentation to true one-to-one personalisation using AI, a goal that places even higher demands on data quality. She also stresses the ongoing need to challenge and test the output of AI tools to ensure accuracy and responsibility. Don't miss this inspiring talk about driving transformative change in the heart of French mobility!

In this episode of the CIONET Podcast, Hendrik Deckers interviews Hanna Huber, CTO of Flix Tech, who is a nominee for the CIONET Awards 2026 (Applications & Architecture). Register here to find out who wins this prestigious title: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-1! Hanna Huber, CTO of Flix Tech, shares her career journey and the transformation at Flix, which operates in 44 countries. She discusses the need for a new tech operating model to support business growth and the importance of managing tech costs. Hannah emphasizes collaboration with tech teams and business units, the value of visual communication, and the significance of understanding complexities in leadership. She also identifies future challenges and offers advice for leaders. Don’t miss the panel where Hanna will share her accomplishments: https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-1!

In this episode of the CIONET Podcast, Hendrik Deckers interviews Jesús Oliva, Head of Data & AI at Moeve, who is a nominee for the CIONET Awards 2026 in the Data & AI category. Register here to find out who wins this prestigious title 👉 https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-1! Jesús shares the story of how he took Moeve from foundational data challenges to leading the way in industrial AI implementation, delivering tens of millions in value. He emphasizes the importance of value over volume in AI projects and shares how his team proved that AI could drive tangible business results, including a 300% ROI from their first pilot. Throughout the conversation, Jesús reveals how Moeve prioritized data democratization and AI accessibility to create a data-driven culture across the organization. He discusses the three pillars that guided the transformation: building robust data foundations, democratizing data access, and demonstrating tangible business value through AI. Jesús also dives into the modular approach that underpins Moeve’s AI strategy, stressing how modularity in AI development ensures scalability and sustainability across projects. He further explains how Moeve’s responsible AI practices, coupled with their AI governance framework, have ensured the company’s AI initiatives are ethical and effective at scale. Don’t miss the panel where Jesús will share more about his AI journey, powered by our trusted partner, Splunk 👉 https://www.cionet.com/events/cionet-awards-2026-part-1!