Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2024 APAC: Day 3 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week on the Gold Coast, Australia. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. You can read the highlights from Day 2 here.

On Day 3 of the conference, we are covering sessions on how to scale generative AI across the enterprise; embedding sustainability into your IT strategy; using AI to supercharge innovation and creativity; and when/how will AI transform work.

• Gartner Predicts 40% of Generative AI Solutions Will Be Multimodal By 2027
• Day 1 Conference Highlights
• Gartner Survey Reveals Cybersecurity Remains the Top Investment for Australia and New Zealand CIOs in 2025
• Day 2 Conference Highlights
• Gartner Forecasts IT Spending in Australia to Grow 8.7% in 2025

Presented by Bern Elliot, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

Generative AI (GenAI) promises to be one of the most transformative technology trends of this decade. In this session, Bern Elliot, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed the current state of Generative AI and emerging best practices for safely deploying it in an enterprise.

• “Through 2025, at least 30% of GenAI projects will be abandoned after proof of concept due to poor data quality, inadequate risk controls, escalating costs or unclear business value.”
• “GenAI initiatives need to scale from a few users to thousands, and eventually be deployed across the enterprise. Scaling GenAI requires a systematic approach to build versus buy decisions for the many potential use cases in the organization.”
• “GenAI creates not only new opportunities, but also risks. Without a clear responsible AI framework, organizations will struggle to balance the benefits and risks of this technology.”
• “Unlike traditional AI, GenAI is poised for active and direct use by a large segment of employees. This broad deployment requires a strong emphasis on AI literacy: the ability to use AI in context with competency to identify relevant use cases.”
• “A product-centric delivery model, where timelines are ongoing and designed to continuously enhance customer value until the service or product is phased out, is critical for GenAI applications.”

Presented by Kristin Moyer, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

CEOs view environmental sustainability as a growth opportunity. In this session, Kristin Moyer, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed how CIOs play a key role in sustainability, starting with sustainable IT. She outlined a step-by-step approach to include sustainability in the organization’s IT strategy.

• “CIOs play a key role in sustainability by reducing IT-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water and waste; making sustainability data available and trusted; and using technology to help the enterprise achieve outcomes.”
  
• “To embed sustainability in your IT strategy, first understand the context by baselining IT-related GHG emissions and identifying how sustainability impacts IT.”
  
• “Identify the impact on IT by looking at the risks, particularly energy costs and availability, and the impact of severe weather on IT operations. Also assess the opportunities, such as energy and cost efficiency, improved IT resilience and employee engagement.”
  
• “Communicate progress you’ve already made to your leadership team, prioritizing double wins that reduce both costs and GHG emissions.”
  
• “It’s important to build business capabilities for sustainable IT, define IT metrics to demonstrate progress, and prioritize actions to reduce IT GHG.”
  

Presented by Brian Prentice, VP Analyst, Gartner

Innovation with AI is rapidly changing creativity and problem solving. In this session, Brian Prentice, VP Analyst at Gartner, explored the practical application of AI within the innovation process and how organizations can leverage the synergistic potential of AI and human creativity.

• “Think of AI not only as a target for innovation, but also as a means for creativity. Successful creation is achieved by increasing the “what ifs per hour” in exploring the problem and solution space.”
  
• “Abandon the idea that generative AI tools will provide new perspectives. These tools can generate input that reflects what they have been trained to do, but are incapable of completely original ideas, at least at their standard operating temperature.”
  
• “To rapidly progress, break big ideas into feasible steps and quickly select and build the best ones. This ensures that you don’t block the execution framework for some of the critical resources that are tied up for too long.”
• “Map activities in your existing innovation execution framework or develop an adapted version of the GEARS framework - Gather, Explore, Assess, Refine, Scale - to identify opportunities. Each stage represents an incremental improvement process.”
  
• “Analyze the activities in your innovation process that gain the most from AI, and set up or develop tools for those activities.”
  

Presented by Graham Waller, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

AI promises productivity, changing roles and a whole new set of talent challenges. But when will this come about and what roles will be impacted? Setting the workforce up for a gradual but relentless shift will demand executive foresight, planning and tough decisions. In this session, Graham Waller, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, outlined the tools and insights CIOs need to work across the C-suite and lead the way forward.

• “Find the key roles where AI can upskill and train people. Prioritize teams where many people are doing similar work and encourage leaders to implement the tools necessary to get them proficient quickly on many different role-specific tasks.”
  
• “Pilot AI taught techniques in roles where employee experience and business outcomes can be improved and risks can be reduced. Don’t lose culture and relationships.”
• “Watch for diminishing returns in teams using GenAI tools, especially the cases where this creates more work, not less. Focus on impact, not time.” 
• “Give people a break by using AI in areas where speed-to-value is critical for organizational success or to keep people safe. Choose autonomous AI use cases carefully, where the speed to product or delivery matters.”
• “If you work in an industry where people may prefer to interact with AI than a person, watch for these shifts. But tread carefully because bad experiences could quickly revert to wanting to deal with a person instead.”  
• “Start by experimenting with AI simulation coaches for having tough conversations to build a leadership bench and improve communication. Reflect carefully on AI trust, which will need to be managed very carefully.”