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 - 12:00 PM EDT

The CIO 2027 Cybersecurity Radar
Leigh McMullen, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
Gartner's annual cybersecurity radar for CIOs; we examine the hottest trends and emerging threats for cybersecurity to give you the just in time insight you need for your agenda for cybersecurity for the coming year. ... 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

12:30 PM - 01:15 PM EDT

Ask the Analyst: Using AI to Close the Talent and Capability Gap in Security (Exclusive to Midsize Enterprise Program)
Patrick Long, Sr Principal Analyst, Gartner
Midsize organizations face challenges in structuring a fit-for-purpose cybersecurity function due to lean teams and are increasingly leveraging AI tools to address talent and capability gaps. Bring your questions on organizing cybersecurity teams, such as: Where can AI impact cybersecurity? Should we invest in integrated AI or agentic AI? How do these technologies impact security talent? ... Show More Show Less

01:15 PM - 01:35 PM EDT

Axonius: From Posture To Pulse - Security Design for the Negative Day Era
William Lorenzo, VP, Global Sales Engineering, Axonius
When exploits arrive before disclosure, posture becomes a historical document: precise, rigorous, and wrong. In the negative day era, programs built on periodic scans and patches are structurally outmatched. The shift from posture to pulse trades periodic assessment for one continuous model that turns conflicting signals into action people and machines can trust. This session argues why it is inevitable, and what CIOs and CISOs must demand. ... Show More Show Less

01:15 PM - 01:35 PM EDT

Dispel: 60 Seconds to Synergies - The Big Push in OT Environments
Ian Schmertzler, Co-ceo, Dispel
Merging OT environments after an acquisition has long taken 2 to 3 years, and spinouts often carry multiyear sustainment agreements. Recent networking advances have cut that to 3 to 6 months. This talk covers the next push from OT network providers: realizing synergies within a single work shift. We'll cover how it's done, how to prepare for it, and the impact on both cyber and digital transformation. ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:15 PM EDT

AWS: A leader's guide to what your board actually needs to know about AI
Boards are asking the wrong questions about AI and getting reassuring but useless answers. They ask about adoption metrics, competitive positioning and risk registers. They should be asking about measurement frameworks, organizational readiness and what the company will stop doing. This session covers the five questions your board should be asking, the three they should stop asking and a template for the AI update that actually builds confidence ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:15 PM EDT

Lumen: Network Intelligence: An Advantage to Proactive Defense
Josh Finke, Senior Vice President, Public Sector, Lumen
AI is speeding innovation, but it is also accelerating and expanding the threat landscape, leaving security teams struggling to detect attacks and build resilience. Josh Finke will illustrate how network intelligence and Black Lotus Labs insights track, protect against, and mitigate rapidly evolving global threats. ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:30 PM EDT

Roundtable : Trust AI Security? Red Team It Against Professionals Paid to Break It, moderated by DXC
Michael Baker, GLOBAL CISO, DXC Technology
Real-world experience stress-testing revealed where agentic AI outperforms human analysts in speed and scale, where guardrails are critical, and what governance means for real-time decisions in live threats. Get a concrete framework for evaluating agentic security platforms on adversarial outcomes and clarity on what operating cyber at machine speed and scale truly means when your threat surface is at stake. This is what happened, not vision. ... Show More Show Less

01:45 PM - 02:15 PM EDT

ThreatLocker: Implementing Zero Trust Controls, A Case Study
Danny Jenkins, Ceo & Co-founder, ThreatLocker
Orville Williams, VP, Cybersecurity & Risk, Trilon Group
Zero Trust isn't a product, it's a security posture that requires planning and strategy. Hear the real-life implications of how moving to a default-deny state can be applied to cybersecurity operations. Learn the challenges and results possible from an IT professional who has been charged with executing on that strategy so you can leave with the lessons and best practices to use in your own environment. ... 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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