Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2024 Orlando: Day 2 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week in Orlando, Florida. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. You can read the highlights from Day 1 here.

On Day 2 from the conference, we are highlighting Gartner’s top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond, what to do when your cloud providers aren't portable or substitutable, the generational change demands of retail and consumer goods, and the future of AI. Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

• Gartner Identifies Four Emerging Challenges to Delivering Value from AI Safely and at Scale
• Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2025
• Gartner Survey Reveals That Only 48% of Digital Initiatives Meet or Exceed Their Business Outcome Targets
• Gartner Unveils Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2025 and Beyond

Presented by Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst, Chief of Research and Gartner Fellow

Everything is affected by AI and organizations must learn how to anticipate AI’s impact. In this session, Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst, Chief of Research and Gartner Fellow, unveiled the top predictions that CIOs can use as a call to action today to prepare for a soft-landing tomorrow.

• By 2027, 70% of new contracts for employees will include licensing and fair usage clauses for AI representations of their personas. “These are complicated legal issues, and executive leadership, including the CIO, will need to discuss employee contracts with HR for existing and yet to be hired employees.” 

• By 2028, technological immersion will impact populations with digital addiction and social isolation, prompting 70% of organizations to implement antidigital policies. “As AI gets deeper into the workforce, managers will likely have to consider more effective ‘time-outs.’ They will also need to consider adding to employee benefit plans.” 

• By 2027, 70% of healthcare providers will include emotional-AI-related terms and conditions in technology contracts or risk billions in financial harm. “Non-verbal cues are important for predicting outcomes and AI can be used in helping to interpret others’ feelings which improves communication. This could lead to significant diagnosis and treatment benefits.”

• By 2028, 40% of large enterprises will deploy AI to manipulate and measure employee mood and behaviors, all in the name of profit. “Policies will need adjusting and legal compliance requirements checked/aligned.” 

• By 2028, 30% of S&P companies will use GenAI labeling, such as “xxGPT,” to reshape their branding while chasing new revenue. “AI can make it very easy for marketing to boost productivity, but the quality of the content still needs careful management.” 

   

  Learn about five additional top predictions in the Gartner press release “Gartner Unveils Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2025 and Beyond."

Presented by Lydia Leong, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

Many organizations adopt public cloud services to accelerate innovation. However, exploiting innovative capabilities complicates cloud exit, lock-in and concentration risks. In this session, Lydia Leong, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, provided pragmatic guidance for third-party risk management, especially in multicloud regulated environments.

• “Determine how risky your cloud providers are and balance the business desire for using them with your ability to manage their risk. This is often easier said than done, especially when the business can source solutions with minimal input from central IT.”

• “Maximize the resilience of the cloud solutions you’ve purchased. Address the highest-probability, high-impact risks first, then balance availability and business continuity needs with cost.”

• “Document a cloud exit strategy so stakeholders understand your organization’s requirements, along with the challenges.”

• “Effective cloud governance is the best way to address risks. Create a cloud center of excellence to work with your vendor management team and other stakeholders to ensure effective third-party risk management practices are applied to cloud providers.”

• “If you’ve got a regulatory obligation to do so, invest in a cloud exit planning program, recognizing that this is not a one-time cost, but a program that you will always need and must continuously invest in.”
  
  Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Matt LoDolce at matt.lodolce@gartner.com.

Presented by Robert Hetu, VP Analyst, Gartner

Channel-based engagement is not enough as older generations' influence towards the future of retailers and consumer goods companies fades. In this session, Robert Hetu, VP Analyst at Gartner, looked at how Gen Alpha will likely force companies in consumer-facing industries to collaborate closely to simultaneously deploy technology to support winning channel-less shopping experiences in multiple generations.

• “Beyond spend, technology reaches across generations. Influence starts from the youngest, moving up into older generations and impacting the industry.”
  

• “Generations have markers and archetypes, but don’t provide all predictive consumer behavioral clues.”

• “Consumer behavioral changes are often unpredicted and even ignored when first detected.”

• “Use AI to create a dynamic behavior priority model to predict consumers' channel-less engagement journeys.”

• “Enabling channelless engagement through unified commerce is an IT strategic imperative.”

   

  Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Matt LoDolce at matt.lodolce@gartner.com.

Presented by Erick Brethenoux, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

AI is moving very fast, but what realistic expectations should we have about the future of AI, and how will the technology continue to impact organizations and society? In this session, Erick Brethenoux, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed the foundational elements required for the future of AI and how organizations can prepare for the next big AI surprise.

• “Move beyond productivity and consider ‘sidekick’ like use cases to fully deliver the promise of AI.”

• “Develop minimum viable products by composing and mixing multiple innovative AI techniques as the AI learning curve is incompressible.”

• “Prepare for the future and improve the success rate of AI initiatives by applying AI engineering practices.”

• “Foster the continuous, effective and responsible use of AI by organizing an AI literacy training program.”

• “Adopt responsible AI practices to prepare for more AI regulation through AI risk management.”

• “Decouple AI from human intelligence. Aim for AI that enhances problem solving without compromising cognitive diversity.”

   

  Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Matt LoDolce at matt.lodolce@gartner.com.