Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2024 Barcelona: Day 3 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week in Barcelona, Spain. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. You can read the highlights here from Day 1 and Day 2.

On Day 3 from the conference, we are discussing CEO concerns for 2025, Gartner latest workday predictions, exploring the impact of the EU AI Act on AI markets, and revealing board priorities for 2025. Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

• Gartner Says CIOs Need to Overcome Four Emerging Challenges to Deliver Value With AI
• Gartner Predicts Fortune 500 Companies Will Shift $500 Billion from Energy Opex to Microgrids Through 2027
• Gartner Survey Reveals Only 48% of Digital Initiatives Are Successful
• Gartner Forecasts IT Spending in Europe to Grow 8.7% in 2025

Presented by Kristin Moyer and Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analysts, Gartner

CEOs are enacting new post-crisis strategies to deal with geopolitical risks and talent challenges; leveraging AI and sustainability. In this session, Kristin Moyer and Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analysts at Gartner, shared Gartner’s annual global CEO survey results which include some agenda shifts that CIOs should anticipate next.

• “The human-only workforce is a thing of the past. 68% of organizations are working on a strategy that integrates human employees and machines including AI-agents and robots​.”

• “CEOs expect that AI will increase the span of control of their people managers by 18%.”

• “In a quest to build dynamic leadership capacity, 56% of CEOs said they will use AI to de-layer most middle management roles within the next 5 years.”

• “97% of executives said they will use AI to augment their performance.

• “AI augmented leadership is NOT about AI replacing you as a leader. It is about using AI to become even more human-centric.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.

Presented by Tim Nelms, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner

CIOs and their teams must deliver technologies and experiences daily to help employees drive the best outcomes. In this session, Tim Nelms, Sr Director Analyst at Gartner, explored Gartner’s latest predictions about the workday to help CIOs rethink their digital workplace strategy.

• By 2028, 25% of organizations with return-to-office mandates will shorten workdays.

• By 2028, 40% of large enterprise warehouse operations will have deployed employee engagement tools to motivate their workforce.

• By 2028, organizations with a digital employee experience (DEX) leader will have a 60% higher chance of benefiting from emerging technologies.

• By 2027, 50% of people in advanced economies will have AI personal assistants working for them every day.

• By 2028, over 50% of digital workers will offer their skills on an external talent marketplace.

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.

Presented by Gabriele Rigon, Sr Principal Analyst, Gartner

As the European (EU) AI Act comes into force, technology providers and users are given limited time to meet compliance requirements. In this session, Gabriele Rigon, Sr Principal Analyst at Gartner, discussed the impact the EU AI Act will have on deployers of AI technology and the consequences for providers.

• “The higher the potential risk posed by AI systems or tools, the more demanding compliance requirements will be.”

• Key obligations for deployers include:

  • Data management and protection, which relates to data protection impact assessment requirements for high-risk systems.

  • Transparency and disclosure, which applies for example to the need to disclose deep fakes.

• Key obligations for providers can be divided in two areas:

  • Obligations of high-risk systems. This relates to the enablement of quality management systems, documentation and logs, but also for example accessibility.

  • Requirements that pertain to the provision of GenAI models.

• “Use the EU AI Act as a tool to infuse your AI development and deployment with better risk mitigation. It’s not an obstacle, it’s a tool.”

• “Second, go beyond the EU AI Act. Align your AI governance with the broader requirements of the European regulations. Overfocusing on the EU AI Act is not a good idea.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.

Presented by Tina Nunno, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

CIOs and IT executives are presenting to non-executive directors more often than ever. In this session, Tina Nunno, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, summarized key results of the Gartner Board of Directors Survey.

• “58% of Boards would like to see their organization take more technology risk to deliver stakeholder value.”

• “Boards anticipate AI (63%), technology generally (57%), and cyber risk (39%) will positively impact shareholder value.”

• “While 91% of Boards are feeling positive about AI as potential currency, they are not feeling positively about their ability to oversee AI.”

• “80% of Boards said their current Board practices and structures are inadequate.”

• “C-level executives should treat the Board as an active fund rather than an index fund to optimize their leadership currency.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.