The CIO Circle Program

Designed for CIOs and equivalent roles, the CIO Circle Program provides exclusive sessions for eligible IT executives attending Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ to explore new strategies, share innovative ideas and grow your community of peers.

This program includes:

Networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities with a group of CIO, CTO and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) attendees to swap experiences, trade best practices and expand your executive peer community. 

Access to exclusive sessions throughout the conference, including thought leader lunches, workshops, roundtables and discussions tailored to the most important topics for the most senior IT Executives.

Priority booking capabilities for limited-capacity sessions and One-on-One Meeting(s) with a Gartner analyst to ensure you don’t miss out on these conference offerings.

*CIOs and equivalent roles with client facing/external responsibilities from a technology vendor or consultancy are not eligible to participate.

Featured sessions

Integrated within the broader conference agenda, the CIO Circle Program includes interactive discussions covering the top priorities of CIOs, as well as informal networking opportunities to connect with other IT leaders from a variety of regions and industries. Through these sessions, participants connect over common initiatives and accelerate, validate and solidify their strategies. 

View the featured sessions from the 2026 CIO Circle Program Agenda.
  • CIO Circle Lunches
  • CIO-exclusive Workshops
  • CIO-exclusive Roundtables

CIO Circle Lunches

  • CIO Circle Lunch: From AI Ambition to Impact: Building India’s Intelligent Future
  • CIO Circle Lunch: Day 2 17th November (Coming Soon)

2026 CIO-exclusive Workshops*

  • CIO Circle Workshop: Elevate Your Executive Leadership Impact With Execution, Engagement and Expertise
  • CIO Circle Workshop: Navigating the Tough Spots in Your AI Strategic Plan
  • CIO Circle Workshop: Assess and Adapt Your Operating Model for the AI Era

*Preregistration is required. These sessions are available to end users only.

2026 CIO-exclusive Roundtables**

  • CIO Circle Roundtable: Building the Future-Ready IT Workforce in the Age of AI 
  • CIO Circle Roundtable: How Are You Building a Future-Ready IT Workforce for the AI Era?

**Preregistration is required. These sessions are available to end users only.

“Kochi Symposium provided dedicated time to reflect on our IT strategy and highlighted additional imperatives to consider for the next 2–3 years. It will also support us in planning IT cost calculations and forecasting future expenditures.”

Vinod Khode
CIO, Varroc

Apply to join the program

The CIO Circle Program is exclusive to eligible CIOs and equivalent roles attending Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™, and an application is required to participate. We recommend applying when you register for the conference as session seats are limited and fill up quickly.
How to qualify

Applicants must meet the following qualification criteria to participate:

  1. Enterprise-wide Chief Information Officer (CIO), or
  2. If you are a Regional/Business unit/Government division Chief Information officer, your Region/Division/Government division should meet the following criteria:
  • Private sector: ₹1,500+ crores in revenue
  • Public sector: 1,000+ employees

CIOs with client-facing/external responsibilities from a technology vendor or consultancy are not eligible to participate.

You can apply to participate in the CIO Circle Program when you register for Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™. During the registration process, the program application will be prompted by answering ‘yes’ to the question, “Are you the Chief Information Officer or do you serve in the Chief Information Officer role for your organization?”. You will be notified via email regarding the status of your application.

Application and approval are required for participation.

Log back into your Gartner conference profile, click “Edit” next to “Registration Profile,” and scroll down to answer the “Attendee Profile” questions.