The CIO Circle Program

Designed specifically for Chief Information Officers, the CIO Circle Program provides exclusive sessions for eligible CIOs attending Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ to explore new strategies, share innovative ideas and grow your community of peers.

This experience includes:

Networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities with a group of CIO attendees to swap experiences, trade best practices and expand your executive peer community. 

Access to exclusive sessions throughout the conference, including thought leader lunches, workshops, roundtables and research discussions tailored to the most important topics for CIOs.

Priority booking capabilities for limited-capacity sessions and One-on-One Meeting(s) with a Gartner expert to ensure you don’t miss out on these conference offerings.

CIO-only sessions

Integrated within the broader conference agenda, the CIO Circle Program includes interactive discussions covering the top priorities of CIOs, as well as casual networking opportunities to connect with other IT leaders from a variety of regions and industries. Through these sessions, participants connect over common initiatives and accelerate, validate and solidify their strategies. See examples below.
  • Workshops

Workshops

  • CIO Circle Workshop: Assess and Transform Your IT Operating Model
  • CIO Circle Workshop: Anticipate Disruption Using Scenario Planning
  • CIO Circle Workshop: Develop and Refine Your Practical AI Strategic Plan
  • CIO Circle Workshop: New-to-Role CIO — A Structured Approach to Accelerate Your Speed to Value
  • CIO Circle Workshop: Lead Resilience From Definition to Implementation in Uncertain Times

View sessions

“I am constantly amazed at the amount of strategic value I get from spending time at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo each year. There’s no question that without it, I would not have an as well-informed agenda.”

Michael Albano
Director, Vanguard

Apply to join the program

The CIO Circle Program is exclusive to eligible CIOs attending Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ 2025. We recommend applying when you register for the conference as session seats are limited and fill up quickly.
How to qualify

Applicants must meet the following qualification criteria to participate:

  1. Enterprise-wide Chief Information Officer (CIO), or
  2. Business unit/ region/ government division Chief Information Officer (CIO) responsible for:
    1. Private sector: $250+ million in revenue
    2. Public sector: 1,000+ employees

CIOs from a marketing vendor or consultancy are not eligible to participate.

You can apply to participate in the CIO Circle Program when you register for Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ 2025. During the registration process, the program application will be prompted by answering ‘yes’ to the question, “Are you the Chief Information Officer or do you serve in the Chief Information Officer role for your organization?”. You will be notified via email regarding the status of your application.

Application and approval are required for participation.

Log back into your Gartner conference profile, click “Edit” next to “Registration Profile,” and scroll down to answer the “Attendee Profile” questions.