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 - 12:15 PM EDT

Ask the Analyst: What Do My Teams Need to Know About the Harness?
C.A. Swan, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
Join this interactive, Q&A style session designed to remove the confusion around the harness as a technology and the practice of harness engineering while address common questions such What is the harness? Who should build the harness? What harnesses are others using? What are the best practices when building a harness? ... Show More Show Less

12:05 PM - 12:25 PM EDT

Island: The Enterprise Agentic Control Plane Workforce Runtime
Matthew Pour, DIRECTOR, SALES ENGINEERING, Island
CIOs are under pressure to unlock generative AI's value while safeguarding governance, visibility, and compliance. As browser-based AI tools spread unchecked across the workforce, Shadow AI creates real risk of direct data leakage and compliance exposure. This session equips CIOs with practical strategies to govern AI use, protect sensitive data, and set policies that balance productivity with control, without sacrificing security or compliance. ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:15 PM EDT

Island: Securing Agentic AI Across the Enterprise
Adrian Cunningham, Director, Solution Engineering, Island
Agentic AI is transforming organizational productivity and revenue but introduces new security and governance challenges. Without traditional onboarding, AI agents can move data unsupervised, use tools maliciously, and create "shadow AI" risks beyond IT’s view. Organizations need a centralized control plane for comprehensive visibility and control across all environments, replacing outdated infrastructure and ensuring secure AI adoption. ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:15 PM EDT

ServiceNow: Don't Automate Chaos: How Merck Built the Foundation for Enterprise AI
Rama Krishna Chikati, Executive Director - Global Technology, Merck
Many organizations struggle to scale AI beyond pilots due to fragmented processes, disconnected workflows, and inconsistent data. Merck tackled this through Evolve, a multi-staged transformation that standardized processes & built a unified workflow foundation on ServiceNow. Merck shows what it takes to scale AI enterprise-wide & cut security incident resolution time 80%, while improving support deflection 40% across 20+ enterprise capabilities. ... Show More Show Less

02:20 PM - 02:40 PM EDT

RingCentral: Learn to turn conversations into actionable insights with MCPs and LLMs.
Sangeeta Walsh, VP, Product Marketing, RingCentral
Conversations usually stay locked in its own system. Bring together all your data by getting a 360 view of your business by linking calls, texts, and messages to your enterprise apps. Learn how together, MCP and LLMs build an interaction graph by ensuring your data is secure and trusted. ... Show More Show Less

02:45 PM - 03:15 PM EDT

AI-Native Development: From Vibe Coding to Teams of Coding Agents
Mark O'Neill, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
AI-native development platforms range from vibe coding platforms to AI assistants, though to teams of AI coding agents. CIOs are excited about this technology because it improves developer productivity, enables innovation and holds the potential to replace off-the-shelf software with custom-built alternatives. ... Show More Show Less

02:45 PM - 03:05 PM EDT

Hype Cycle for Generative AI, 2026
Arun Chandrasekaran, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
Generative AI technologies and techniques are evolving at an unprecedented pace, accompanied by a significant hype, making it challenging for leaders to navigate this dynamic landscape. CIOs can leverage this Hype Cycle to identify the innovations worth pursuing as they shape and execute their AI strategies. ... Show More Show Less

03:45 PM - 04:15 PM EDT

Atlassian: Rewiring the Enterprise for AI, Aveanna Healthcare’s Transformation Journey
Rick Maharaj, GLOBAL FIELD CTO, Atlassian
Most enterprise AI initiatives stall not from tech limits, but from scaling across fragmented systems and legacy operating models. You can’t automate out of structural complexity. Explore how Aveanna Healthcare aligned its architectural and operating models with strong governance to move beyond isolated pilots and operationalize AI into a scalable, responsible enterprise capability. ... Show More Show Less

03:45 PM - 04:30 PM EDT

CIO Boardroom: Unlocking Enterprise Value with AI Governance, moderated by Lenovo
Effective AI governance today is about enabling confident innovation, not just control. Global CIOs must navigate the growing complexity of scaling AI while protecting data, managing risk and achieving business goals across diverse regions.

In this session, you’ll explore:

Designing AI governance that balances innovation and risk
Scaling AI beyond IT for cross-functional results
Strengthening data, governance and operating models for AI ... 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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