Connected leadership – How CIOs and HR create impact together

Digital acceleration, artificial intelligence and increasing complexity are fundamentally changing the way we work. As a result, close collaboration between the CIO and HR is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. How can the CIO and HR work together to strengthen the organisation within a context where technology and AI are increasingly influential? And how can they use their collaboration to build an organisation that remains agile, resilient and attractive to talent: driving performance, innovation and the employee experience?

In this event, we broke from a traditional approach to offer an interactive mix of inspiring keynotes and open discussions. CIOs and HR managers actively engaged and immediately began a dialogue with one another about current challenges and shared expectations. Takeaways included concrete insights into how this collaboration takes shape in practice, and how CIOs and HR can work together to strengthen the organisation in a rapidly changing reality.

User story: Talent meets Tech: the power of HR–IT collaboration

The National Bank of Belgium is currently facing several major challenges that are shaping the business environment. The rapidly evolving IT landscape — driven in particular by the rise of AI and digital opportunities — requires agility and speed. At the same time, the right skills must be developed, both within IT and across the business, to stimulate adoption and manage change effectively.

This raises important strategic questions: how does the National Bank keep its people aligned and engaged amidst constant change? Which skills must be retained within the organisation, and where and how are other profiles recruited? And should general HR processes and policies be adapted to the specific needs of IT, or is it better to maintain a consistent approach across the entire organisation?

The presentation also highlighted a key leadership challenge: how to lead effectively in a world where technology is woven into everything we do? An Swalens and Siska D’Hoore discussed the main friction points they encounter and shared practical solutions and concrete examples to tackle these together.

An Swalens, CIO, en Siska D’Hoore, Head of HR and Wellbeing, National Bank of Belgium

Training humans in the loop: bridging CIO & CHRO through data-driven skills intelligence with coLAB

In the age of genAI, the challenge is shifting from job losses to demand for skills. This keynote introduced coLAB, the KU Leuven platform that enables the measurement and development of soft skills based on data-driven, evidence-based insights. Through interactive team experiences and reflection, coLAB creates a dynamic soft skills passport that can be used for matching, learning and strategic workforce planning. It marks a fundamental shift from traditional L&D and recruitment approaches to data-driven, skills-based talent strategies, whilst simultaneously bridging the gap between the CIO (data) and the CHRO (people). This session also demonstrated the importance of intergenerational collaboration for positioning employees as critical ‘humans in the loop’ in an AI-driven working environment. Professor Mark Van Achter provided a demo Skills Feedback Report for reference.

Professor Mark Van Achter, Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven

User story: Systematic implementation and adoption of AI at Exalate

The implementation and adoption of AI is often viewed as a technical issue; a matter of tools and training. But this is only one aspect of a successful roll-out. Two equally important aspects include:

• Linking AI adoption to the company’s strategic goals
• The integration of AI into day-to-day work, and the fundamental shifts in job roles that this entails

What makes this case unique: Exalate is itself a technology company that integrates AI into its own product. However, that technical context does not make its own human and organisational challenges any smaller; on the contrary.

AI is fundamentally changing the nature of employees’ work. Successfully guiding this process requires more than change management in the traditional sense. It requires an HR approach that is structured, well-thought-out and rooted in the reality of the workplace. HR plays a key role in this: not as an implementer, but as the architect of the transition

Sherene El-Binni, HR People Partner, and Peter Verhaert, HR-manager, Exalate