Agenda 2026

Travel information

10:34 a.m. Departure of the Frankfurt delegation

Departure from the main station (Hauptbahnhof) on ICE 16. Stanislaw Rahm, CIOmove editor and your team captain, will meet you at the reserved seats in carriage 28.

09:01 a.m. Departure of the London delegation

Departure of the London delegation from St. Pancras Station on Eurostar service ES9126. Professor Art Langer, your team captain, will meet the group at 10:00 a.m. at the Eurostar security gates and assist with security and immigration before boarding.

11:43 a.m. Departure of the Cologne delegation

Departure from the main station on ICE 16, which continues from Frankfurt. Stanislaw Rahm is also your team captain on ICE 16. He will wait for you at the reserved seats in carriage 29.

11:55 a.m. Departure of the Paris delegation

Departure from Gare du Nord on Eurostar service ER9435. Ursula Soritsch-Renier, CDIO of Saint-Gobain and your team captain, will join you on board with her husband, James, and coordinate the group during the journey.

Schedule for Thursday

11:00 a.m. – 07:00 p.m. Check-in at Hotel Amigo (Rue de l’Amigo 1, 1000 Brussels). The CIOmove team is expecting you at an extra counter.

Shuttle schedule:

• 1:20 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.: From Hotel Amigo to the European Council
• 1:50 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.: From Gare du Midi to Hotel Amigo
• 1:50 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.: From Gare du Midi to the European Parliament
• 2:10 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.: From Hotel Amigo to the European Parliament

Starting point 1 (most suitable for early birds)
2:00 p.m. Visit of the European Council

Starting point 2 (most suitable for those who arrive by train)
3:00 p.m. Visit of the European Parliament

Starting point 3 (most suitable for late birds)
4:00 p.m. Walking tour through Brussels (starting at the hotel)

8:00 p.m. Welcome reception: Networking evening Brasserie Surréaliste (Place Du Nouveau Marché Aux Grains, 23, 1000 Brussels) – including opportunity to watch the World Cup match Germany – Ecuador.

7:30–9:00 a.m. Breakfast & Checkout

Breakfast: Boconi restaurant and Ambassador ballroom

⚠️ Please bring your suitcase with the luggage tag to the lobby before the Think Tank – we’ll take care of it from there!

9:00-9:30 a.m. Hotel Check Out

9:30 a.m. Warm Welcome

Hotel Amigo (Ambassador Ballroom), Rue de l’Amigo 1, Brussels

9:35 a.m. Keynote: “Who Decides What – and Where”

an introduction to the decision-making process inside the EU by

• Gregor Peter Schmitz, Editor-in-Chief of “Stern” magazine and former correspondent of “Spiegel” in Brussels
• Andrea Renda, Research-Director of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and
• Horst Ellermann (moderator)

10:10 a.m. Presentation of the four most important IT-topics

by CEPS – Our Experts at the European Union

10:30 a.m. Group Discussions

Choose your topic:

1. “Buy European” – Industrial Policy or Market Distortion?
   – European preference must be measurable, not ideological.
   – Reference frameworks beat new certifications.
2. Security, Certification & Trust – Can EUCS Create a Market?
   – Immunity from extraterritorial law is a core, unresolved concern.
   – Certification must reduce risk, not just signal alignment.
   – Cyber resilience depends on the weakest links.
3. Data Protection, Data Act & Data Spaces – From Law to Usability
   – Sector-led data spaces are essential – but only if governance is clear.
   – Interoperability matters more than central control.
   – Regulatory overlap is becoming a cost factor.
4. Architecture, Federation & Scale – How can EuroStack Actually Work?
   – Mapping dependencies before declaring sovereignty.
   – Harmonisation beats national solutions.
   – Financing federation requires long-term instruments.

11:45 a.m. Walk to Gare Centrale (~5 min)

11:55 a.m. Train ride to Gare du midi 

12:43 p.m. Eurostar · Brussels → Paris

Lunchbags will be provided on board.

2:05 p.m. Arrival of Eurostar in Paris, Gare du Nord

3:00 p.m. Arrival at the Headquarters of Saint-Gobain, Tour de Saint-Gobain (12 Place de l’Iris, 92400 Courbevoie)

3:15 p.m. “Transforming a 360-Year-Old Company for Solutions, Sustainability, and AI” by Ursula Soritsch-Renier, Chief Digital & Information Officer (CDIO), Saint-Gobain

3:45 p.m. “Digital Resilience and Sovereignty” by Emmanuel Sardet, Group CTO of Crédit Agricole and Président of “Cigref”, the French association of large digital users Companies and Martine Gouriet, Directrice Transformation numérique, usages et innovation at EDF, who is also France´s IT Woman of the Year 2025.  

4:15 p.m. “Creating an AI Unicorn in Europe” by Malte Kosub, CEO and Co-Founder of Parloa

4:45 p.m. Coffee break

5:00 p.m. Deep dive discussion I or II:

• Digital Sovereignty: Attack is the Best Form of Defence by Stefan Brock, HPE
• The End of Business as Usual? How AI Agents Change the Enterprise by Tobias Regenfuß, Accenture

6:30 p.m. End of the program

7:30 p.m. Reunion with companions, Rooftop reception at the Saint-Gobain tower

7:00–8:00 a.m. Morning activities. Guests can choose between an optional yoga session at the hotel or a running session in Paris.

09:45 a.m. Walk to HPE France from Melia Hotel La Defense

10:00 a.m. Check-in at HPE, Bâtiment Sense, 4 Rue Paul Lafargue, 92800 Puteaux

10:10 a.m. Welcome

10:15 a.m. CIO Session 1: “Innovation”. Peer-moderated discussions across the innovation track

11:15 a.m. Coffee break

11:45 a.m. CIO Session 2: “Integration”, Peer-moderated discussions across the innovation track

12:45 p.m. Bus departure to Columbia University (4 Rue de Chevreuse, 75006 Paris)

1:55 p.m. Welcome address by Professor Art Langer, Columbia University

2:05 p.m. Deep dive discussion III or IV:

• Architecting Your 90-Day AI Security Roadmap by Florian Hartwig, Palo Alto
• Security, Sovereignty and “Reboot Germany” by Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, Inaugural CIO of NATO, and 
  Michael Mueller-Wuensch, CIO OTTO.

3:35 p.m. Coffee break

4:00 p.m. CIO Session 3: “Intelligence”. Peer-moderated discussions across the innovation track

5:00-6:00 p.m. Reunion with companions. Dinner&Networking@Columbia Garden Reception (Flying Buffet)

8:00 p.m. End the evening at Solera Bar (283 Rue Saint-Jacques, 75005 Paris) – a stylish cocktail bar in the heart of the Latin Quarter.

Bus Shuttles back to Melía Paris La Défense depart at the following times:

• 8:00 p.m. – from Columbia University
• 10:00 p.m. – from Solera Bar
• Midnight – from Solera Bar

7:00–8:00 a.m. Morning activities. Guests can choose between an optional yoga session at the hotel or a running session in Paris.

7:30–09:30 a.m. Breakfast at the hotel.

9:00–10:30 a.m. Check-out luggage collection (we offer to shuttle your luggage to our final destination. From there airports and stations can be reached easier than from La Defence).

10:30 a.m. Tour de CIOs: Guests choose between four different Paris experiences:

• By vintage 2CV cars,
• by bike,
• e-bike, or
• by a relaxed tuk-tuk tour. All routes lead to:

1:00 p.m. Lunch at PLAT/FORM, 14 Port de la Gare, 75013 Paris

2:00 p.m. End of event & departure. Guests collect their luggage and depart.