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View the key topics for CIOs and dive into last year’s sessions while we work on the full 2027 agenda.

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      2027 Conference Topics at a Glance

      The 2027 agenda delivers the latest technology, strategy and leadership insights across key topic areas, covering the challenges most critical to CIOs.

      AI Cost and ROI

      CIOs must link AI investments to outcome-driven metrics, embedding financial discipline, and ensuring cost transparency with FinOps. CIOs must partner with leadership, prioritize production deployments, strengthen data foundations, and govern inference costs for scalable, sustainable ROI.

      Cybersecurity and Enterprise Resilience

      Reframe cybersecurity as a business imperative. Elevate resistance to anticipate, withstand, and recover from disruption created by rapid changes in the digital world and a volatile geopolitical landscape. CIOs must align security to outcomes, embed adaptive controls and governance and build lasting trust.

      IT Strategic Planning

      Strategic planning and execution means more than setting direction. CIOs must unite IT and business, integrate AI for measurable outcomes, address change fatigue with structured management, and orchestrate agile plans, governance and talent to deliver sustained business value.
      Look back at 2026 conference sessions

      Many conference sessions were presented each day at Gartner CIO Leadership Forum 2026. While we work to develop next year’s agenda, filter to see sessions that align with your role and interests.

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      Monday, February 23, 2026

      10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST

      Get Started on Your Autonomous Business Journey
      Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
      Autonomous business is the next business era, driven by AI and building on the foundations of digital business. But where do you start and how autonomous do you want your organization to be? In this session, we will share new research on autonomous business and discuss what organizations are doing to meet this challenge head-on. ... Show More Show Less

      10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST

      Increase Executive Influence Using Business and Human Value Stories
      Christie Struckman, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
      CIOs continue to struggle to influence business executives, delaying budgets and derailing progress on business outcomes. Greater success comes from mastering two types of value stories: business value stories and human value stories. Both should be used to focus on each key stakeholder. This session will provide structures and best practices for creating these stories, including GenAI prompts for inspiration. ... Show More Show Less

      10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST

      Master 6 Cybersecurity Board Conversations to Survive and Thrive
      Paul Proctor, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
      There are times when the CIO has to have a cybersecurity conversation with the board that are critical, decisive and transformative. Six of them are “we just got hacked,” “a budget cut,” “ransomware readiness,” “AI is risky,” “technology debt,” and “cyber risk in M&A.” These are times when your influence can rise to the occasion with lasting effect or an opportunity to brush up your resume. Learn to master these conversations. ... Show More Show Less

      10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST

      Measuring What Matters in AI Learning Programs
      Madelin Santana, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
      How do you know if your AI learning programs are paying off? AI training is only as valuable as the business outcomes it delivers. Discover strategies to align AI upskilling initiatives with your organizational goals, using data-driven insights to measure effectiveness at every stage, from learner engagement to business transformation. Moving beyond learner completion rates is the only way to capture the true ROI of learning programs to effectively build a workforce equipped for the AI era. ... Show More Show Less

      12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST

      How AI Changes the IT Operating Model to Drive Success
      Miles Gibson, VP Analyst, Gartner
      By rethinking the IT operating model through the lens of AI, CIOs can move beyond tactical cost reductions to unlock strategic value. This session will show how leading organizations leverage AI to drive step changes in IT operational agility, efficiency, proficiency and performance. ... Show More Show Less

      12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST

      How to Put a $ Value on the Business Value of IT
      Robert Naegle, VP Analyst, Gartner
      CIOs must forge a clear and measurable connection between IT initiatives and strategic business outcomes. Yet, one of the most persistent challenges they face is quantifying the value of IT in financial terms; how to put a $ value on IT's contribution to business outcomes? This session will equip CIOs with practical and actionable frameworks to bridge that gap, enabling them to articulate IT’s contribution in terms that drive strategic alignment and executive confidence. ... Show More Show Less

      12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST

      Leading ERP Change: Creating the Conditions for Successful ERP Transformation
      Kevin Smith, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
      ERP continues to be a top CIO priority for enabling enterprise cost efficiency and operational effectiveness. This session will help build a CIO's capacity for ERP change leadership, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive and agile leadership of those impacted by change. ... Show More Show Less

      12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST

      The State of AI Regulation: How to Build a Unified Strategy
      Mandi Bishop, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
      AI regulations are now coming in just as fast as AI new products. Some say they will stifle innovation while others argue that they are late. Either way, CIOs will have to deal with a global regulatory wave that risks sinking their AI strategy. This session will provide a global overview of AI regulation, what to expect over the coming 12 months and how to prepare for a seemingly fragmented set of requirements. ... Show More Show Less

      02:15 PM - 02:45 PM MST

      New-to-Role CIOs: Master Culture for Early Impact
      Kevin Smith, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
      Culture does not have to eat strategy for lunch. By mastering culture change, new-to-role CIOs can cultivate high-performing cultures as they engage peers and employees in their early initiatives.
      By balancing a focus on planning and execution with engagement and collaboration, CIOs can execute strategy with a performance culture as an output. Attend this session to increase your culture mastery.       ... Show More Show Less

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      “Great sessions on effective CIO storytelling to influence the C-suite.”

      Anne Milkovich
      CIO, NSHE

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