Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2026 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, we are announcing the top strategic tech trends for 2027, revealing the top predictions for 2027, and examining how CIOs can respond to AI sovereignty challenges. Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

Presented by Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst and Gartner Fellow

As AI reshapes the systems we rely on, successful organizations will balance innovation with responsibility to manage both the opportunities and unintended consequences of an AI-driven world. In this session, Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst and Gartner Fellow, unveiled the top strategic predictions of the future that represent opportunities or threats.   

• By 2029, 60% of organizations deploying AI will establish a dedicated function responsible for mapping AI total cost to value or profit. “Organizations should link token usage directly to business value metrics, while implementing clear governance, quotas and monitoring controls to ensure AI investments deliver measurable returns.”
• By 2029, 80% of new applications will be intentionally disposable – used for less than one year – revolutionizing the software lifecycle. “AI is making application development so accessible that employees will increasingly create temporary applications to meet short-term business needs.”
• By 2030, 80% of front-line workers employed by international companies will be assisted by physical AI systems. “Technologies such as robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and other embodied systems will sense, interact with and influence their surroundings.”
• By 2030, 80 percent of organizations with public-facing AI will have experienced a cost exhaustion attack creating excessive AI cost. “Make AI token costs a cybersecurity indicator, implement cost-focused security controls, and extend monitoring capabilities across all AI technologies.” 
• By 2030, $10 trillion in enterprise-owned energy will make Global 2000 firms unexpected power providers – selling to grids and AI data centers, reshaping the utility industry. “As energy becomes a strategic, software-defined asset, organizations will need new capabilities to optimize production, storage and consumption.”

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