Agenda 2026
Travel Information for All Delegations
Please review your departure details carefully and connect with your designated team captain prior to boarding. Your team captain will coordinate the group and assist you throughout the journey. Reserved seats are available on the following trains:
- The London delegation will depart at 11:04 a.m. from St. Pancras Station on Eurostar service ES9126. Your team captain is Professor Art Langer. He will meet the group at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Eurostar security gates. Please allow sufficient time to pass through security and immigration before boarding. Professor Langer has travelled through the Channel Tunnel more than one hundred times and will guide you smoothly through the process.
- The Frankfurt delegation will depart at 10:35 a.m. from the main station (Hauptbahnhof) on ICE 16. Your team captain is our CIOmove editor, Stanislaw Rahm. He will wait for you at the reserved seats in carriage 28.
- The Cologne delegation will depart at 11:43 a.m. from the main station (Hauptbahnhof) 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.
- The Paris delegation will depart at 11:55 a.m. from Gare du Nord on Eurostar service ER9435. Your team captain is Ursula Soritsch-Renier, the CDIO of Saint-Gobain. She and her husband, James, will join you on board and coordinate the group during the journey.
- Alternatively, you may choose to fly to Brussels instead. This option would certainly please two of our fellow participants: Jochen Goettelmann, CIO of Lufthansa, and Henning Krueger, CIDO of British Airways. If you decide to arrive by air, either Henning or Jochen has kindly offered to buy you a drink at the bar later in the evening.
Thursday, June 25, 2026 – Welcome Day in Brussels
- Until 2:00 p.m. – Individual check-in at Hotel Amigo (Rue de l’Amigo, 1000 Brussels)
- 3:00 p.m. – Guided tour of the European Parliament
A behind-the-scenes look at how Europe’s legislative heart operates. - 4:30 p.m. – Introduction: “Decision-Making at the EU” by Stefan Borst, former Brussels correspondent and editor at Focus Magazine
5:15 p.m. – Keynote: “Challenges and Responses for AI and IT Security” by Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer, Inaugural CIO of NATO
- 6:00 p.m. – Panel discussion: “The Strategic Role of Europe in IT, Security & AI” by Stefan Borst & Horst Ellermann
- 8:00 p.m. – Welcome reception
Networking evening in the Brasserie Surréaliste, Place Du Nouveau Marché Aux Grains, 23, 1000 Brussels
Friday, June 26, 2026 – From Brussels to Paris
- 10:00 a.m. – CEPS Think Tank: “The Eurostack Initiative – What’s in It for CIOs?”
- 10:30 a.m. – World Café discussion about:
- “Buy European” – Industrial Policy or Market Distortion?
- 1. European preference must be measurable, not ideological.
- 2. Reference frameworks beat new certifications.
- Security, Certification & Trust – Can EUCS Create a Market?
- 1. Immunity from extraterritorial law is a core, unresolved concern.
- 2. Certification must reduce risk, not just signal alignment.
- 3. Cyber resilience depends on the weakest links.
- Data Protection, Data Act & Data Spaces – From Law to Usability
- 1. Sector-led data spaces are essential – but only if governance is clear.
- 2. Interoperability matters more than central control.
- 3. Regulatory overlap is becoming a cost factor.
- Architecture, Federation & Scale – How can EuroStack Actually Work?
- 1. Mapping dependencies before declaring sovereignty.
- 2. Harmonisation beats national solutions.
- 3. Financing federation requires long-term instruments.
- “Buy European” – Industrial Policy or Market Distortion?
- 12:43 p.m. – Departure of Eurostar from Brussels Midi
- 2:05 p.m. – Arrival of Eurostar in Paris, Gare du Nord
- Until 3:00 p.m. – Arrival and check-in at the hotel Melía Paris, 3 Boulevard de Neuilly, 92400 Courbevoie, La Défense France
- 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. – Keynote: “Transforming a 360-Year-Old Company for Solutions, Sustainability, and AI” by Ursula Soritsch-Renier, Chief Digital & Information Officer (CDIO), Saint-Gobain
- 4:00 p.m. – CIO Session 1: Innovation
Peer-moderated discussions across the innovation track - 5:00 p.m. – Deep dive discussion
- 7:30 p.m. – Reunion with companions
Rooftop reception at the Saint-Gobain tower
—————————————————————————————————————- - Companion program:
- Morning: City tour with chocolate factory and café in Brussels
- Afternoon: Seine boat trip
Saturday, June 27, 2026 – Paris Academic Day
- 10:00 a.m. – Bus departure
10:45 a.m. – Arrival at Columbia University, Paris Campus (Montparnasse) - 11:00 a.m. – Welcome Address by Professor Art Langer, Columbia University
- 11:15 a.m. – Keynote: “Digital Sovereignty at Crédit Agricole” by Emmanuel Sardet, Group Chief Technology Officer, Crédit Agricole
- 12:00 p.m. – Keynote: “Digital Sovereignty at EDF” by Martine Gouriet, Director of Digital Transformation at EDF and IT Manager of the Year 2025 in France (awarded by Le Monde Informatique)
- 12:45 p.m. – Lunch at Columbia Campus
- 1:30 p.m. – CIO Session 2: Integration
- 2:30 p.m. – Deep-Dive Discussion
- 4:00 p.m. – Coffee break
- 4:30 p.m. – CIO Session 3: Intelligence
- 6:00 p.m. – Reunion with companions
Garden Reception (Flying Buffet) - 8:00 p.m. – Return to Meliá Paris La Défense
Enjoy a scenic evening transfer through Paris – with stopovers at the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Champs-Élysées for unforgettable views.
—————————————————————————————————————- - Companion program:
- Morning: Perfume workshop and visit of the Fragonard museum
- Afternoon: Shopping around Galeries Lafayette
Sunday, June 28, 2026 – Closing Day
- 10:00 a.m. – Breakfast & get-together
- 11:00 a.m. – Walk along the Champs-Élysées
- 11:30 a.m. – Sightseeing tour & group photo
- 1:00 p.m. – Lunch before departure to the airport
Why Brussels & Paris?
Brussels is the place where Europe’s digital future is shaped and negotiated. With landmark regulations such as the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the EU AI Act, Brussels is defining how technology is built, governed, and deployed across the continent.
CIOmove participants will gain first-hand insights into EU decision-making, explore the EuroStack initiative with leading think tank experts, and engage with senior stakeholders to assess whether regulation becomes Europe’s competitive advantage — or an operational challenge for global companies.
The city therefore frames a central strategic question: How can organizations innovate at speed while navigating increasing compliance requirements and evolving ethical standards?
Paris represents the industrial execution of this strategy. As a hub for global enterprises and emerging AI ecosystems, Paris demonstrates how digital sovereignty, platform governance, and sustainable technology are reshaping traditional sectors.
Through discussions with leaders from companies such as Saint-Gobain, Airbus, EDF, and AXA, CIOmove participants will examine how carbon reduction, resilient IT operations, data autonomy, and AI adoption are being implemented in practice.
Together, Brussels and Paris illustrate Europe’s distinct vision for the digital era – regulated where necessary, competitive where possible, and collaborative by design. For CIOs navigating technological complexity, talent transformation, sustainability imperatives, AI disruption, and platform strategy decisions, these two cities provide the ideal environment to exchange perspectives openly, challenge assumptions, and return home with actionable insights.
Move With a Method
Focus on the topics that matter most to strategic CIOs. Benefit from insights provided by leading academics from around the world. Shape your own agenda – and engage in focused discussions with peers and board members of the world’s leading IT vendors.
CIOmove is a global conference for strategic CIOs of multinational companies with average annual revenues of approximately $5 billion. The event focuses on innovation, intelligence, and integration, bringing together senior IT leaders to address the most pressing technology and business challenges.
Using the “Peer Finder” methodology, participants rate proposed topics on a scale from 1 (very interesting) to 5 (not relevant to me). The 28 highest-ranked topics are selected for structured discussion.
The program includes four 90-minute deep-dive sessions and smaller 45-minute working groups. Each participant may join two sessions in each format. Spouses or companions are also invited to contribute by rating topics, adding an additional external perspective.
Only a limited number of leading IT vendors are admitted to participate (see partners), and sales presentations are strictly prohibited.
The conference is supported by renowned academics, including Prof. Arthur Langer (Columbia University), Prof. Helmut Krcmar (Technical University of Munich), and Prof. Walter Brenner (University of St. Gallen).
You can download the instructions on how to suggest a topic for CIOmove here.
The business model: CIOmove is run by Horst Ellermann and Faktor 3. CIOs pay a fee for joining the conference, see Terms & Conditions. Boardmembers of IT vendors like Accenture, Google, HPE and Salesforce sponsor the CIOmove generously. They are allowed to join the discussions in a limited number. The ratio is 3:1 – three or more CIOs meet not more than one vendor in all group discussions.
Join Us in Brussels & Paris!
CIOmove 2026 offers a unique opportunity to:
- Connect with peers from the world’s leading organizations
- Gain strategic insights into Europe’s role in AI, cloud & security
- Experience first-hand how European industry responds to global challenges
Whether you are drawn by the policy developments in Brussels, the industry expertise of Paris, or the shared journey of CIOs tackling similar challenges, CIOmove 2026 will be an event you won’t want to miss.
Registration: Please register by sending an email to Claudia Michel. More details will be shared in the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you in Brussels and Paris for this unforgettable CIO experience!
Want to see who’s already on board? Check out our participants overview:
Participants 2026
Last Year’s Topics & Theses by the CIOmovers
From Hype to Execution: Operationalizing AI
The enthusiasm surrounding generative AI remains high, yet many organizations are still stuck in experimentation mode.
ERP in the Real World: Why CIOs Must Confront System Complexity Head-On
As organizations scale globally, integrate cloud services, and apply AI to core processes, ERP complexity is reaching a tipping point.
AI in Cybersecurity: From Reactive Defense to Strategic Foresight
As AI moves beyond the hype stage and into enterprise-scale implementation, one of its most profound impacts is on cybersecurity. At CIOmove 2025 in Ireland, Florian Hartwig and Volker Kratzenstein will dive into the evolving interplay between AI and cyber risk.
CIOmove Network Partners
CIOmove Partners
