All 2026 Conference Sessions

Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ 2026 dives deep into key topics for CIOs and IT leaders around AI, executive leadership, cybersecurity, operating models and more to help you address your organization's mission-critical challenges.

2026 Conference Theme

Ignite Intelligence

AI is no longer a differentiator — it’s now part of the foundation. CIOs must take the artificial out of intelligence, combining human ingenuity with AI to unlock value, drive agility and navigate disruption. A human-centered approach is key to leading the intelligent enterprise. 

Explore our conference sessions below, all developed with this theme in mind.

Hear from a long-term Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo attendee on why he keeps coming back.
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Monday, October 19, 2026

11:30 AM - 11:50 AM EDT

Gartner Future Directions: Future of Intelligence
Deepak Seth, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
This session equips technology executives with the vocabulary and framework needed to lead the cognitive enterprise. Attendees will walk away knowing how to balance the compute demands of synthetic minds, the efficiency of biological processors and the ultimate value of human leadership. ... Show More Show Less

11:30 AM - 11:50 AM EDT

Hype Cycle for AI in Oil and Gas, 2026
Simon Cushing, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
This session provides insights on technology patterns, shifts and perspectives based on the 2026 Hype Cycle for AI in Oil and Gas. Show Less

11:30 AM - 11:50 AM EDT

Hype Cycle for Higher Education, 2026
Marlena Brown, VP Analyst, Gartner
Higher education institutions rely on sustained digital acceleration for a successful engagement experience. Hence, higher education CIOs must maintain the digital momentum. This session will review the 2026 Hype Cycle for higher education and dive deeper into several innovation profiles. Attendees will learn how to determine which technologies will support their institution's modernization goals. ... Show More Show Less

11:30 AM - 11:50 AM EDT

Hype Cycle for Retail Technologies 2026: Navigating the Hype Cycle to Drive Business Outcomes
Robert Hetu, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
This session will help retail CIOs understand the critical technologies required to win in the era of AI demonstrating where and how to leverage AI, GenAI and Agentic AI to meet strategic goals and drive business outcomes. ... Show More Show Less

12:05 PM - 12:25 PM EDT

Infor: Beyond FDE with PING — The Rise of the Forward Deployed Enterprise by 2035
Rick Rider, Svp, Product Management, Infor
Douglas Linsmeyer, VP, Technology, PING
By 2035, FDE is no longer just a vendor role — it's a capability every enterprise builds for itself. Agentic AI collapses the path from business idea to production software, and IT's role shifts from builder to architect of the builders. PING Golf shares early evidence from their own experience as Infor offers a 10-year view of how the vendor-customer boundary dissolves and who owns enterprise software creation in an agentic world. ... Show More Show Less

12:30 PM - 01:00 PM EDT

Government: Top Tech Trends and What Leaders Must Prepare for Now
Mike Shevlin, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
CIOs at all levels of the U.S. government are faced with AI adoption pressures and a massive shift in cryptography, contending with growing cybersecurity threats and shifting responsibilities from federal to state government. This presentation explores these changes and the actions CIOs must take. ... Show More Show Less

12:45 PM - 01:05 PM EDT

Gartner Future Directions: Every Business Is a Physical AI Business
Marty Resnick, VP Analyst, Gartner
Software is no longer confined to screens. Every business is now a physical AI business, where spatial computing, smart robotics and IoT converge. For CIOs, the mandate is clear: architect infrastructure that bridges the digital-physical divide or risk operational obsolescence. ... Show More Show Less

12:45 PM - 01:05 PM EDT

Hype Cycle for Insurance: Separating Signal From Noise in Technological Innovation
Laurie Shotton, VP Analyst, Gartner
This forward-looking session presents Gartner's 2026 insurance Hype Cycles, mapping the trajectory of key technologies from innovation trigger to plateau of productivity. Attendees will gain a nuanced understanding of technologies poised for mainstream adoption, which are likely to disappoint, and which warrant cautious experimentation. The analysis will drive out trends in the technologies and what that will mean for CIO strategies. ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:15 PM EDT

IBM: The 2030 CIO: Turning human + AI intelligence into action
By 2030, CIOs will be measured less by the technology they manage and more by how effectively they put intelligence to work. As AI gains agency and quantum computing expands what’s possible, CIOs must rethink how work, decisions and accountability flow. This session explores the CIO’s evolving role in shaping a new AI operating model that turns intelligence into action, scales AI beyond isolated successes and preserves human judgment and trust. ... Show More Show Less

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"You have all of the CIOs in the world, all together. It’s a wealth of expertise and experience that I love to tap into and continue to stay connected with.”

Damon Frost
CIO, P&G Beauty, Proctor & Gamble

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