The CDAO Circle Program

The CDAO Circle is an exclusive experience designed for both new-to-role and experienced CDAOs and Heads of AI to elevate their performance and brand. The program provides targeted content, focused workshops and valuable networking lunches.  Join your CDAO Peers to explore how you and your teams can use data, analytics and AI to drive better business value and improve culture, communication and change.

This experience includes:

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

Access to exclusive sessions throughout the conference, including CDAO lunches featuring keynote presentations, workshops, roundtables and research discussions tailored to the most important topics for CDAOs and Heads of AI. 

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.

CDAO-only sessions

Integrated within the broader conference agenda, the CDAO Circle Program includes interactive discussions covering the top priorities of CDAOs and Heads of AI, as well as casual networking opportunities to connect with other data and analytics leaders from a variety of regions and industries. Through these sessions, participants connect over common initiatives and accelerate, validate and solidify their strategies. 
  • Leadership Exchange
  • Roundtables
  • Workshops

Leadership Exchanges

  • Shared Lessons From CDAO Agenda Survey 2026
  • How Ready Is My Organization for AI Agents?
  • The Evolving CDAO — Archetypes, AI Ambitions and Growth Paths
  • Let’s Talk About Measuring the True Cost of Agentic AI
  • Let’s Talk About Getting Buy-In for Foundational Investments
  • Let’s Talk About Governing AI and Data At Scale

Roundtables

  • Preparing for AI Readiness at Scale
  • Updating Your Organizational Structures to Maximize Value
  • Redefining D&A and AI Governance

Workshops

  • Workshop: CDAO Circle Leadership Exchange: Let’s Talk About Who Owns AI — Is It Me or Someone Else?

"The table conversations in the CDAO track have been extremely valuable. Networking with peers that have similar challenges gave me real ideas I can go back to my company and try."

Donna Gould

IT Director, Monolith

Apply to join the program

The CDAO Circle Program is exclusive to eligible CDAOs and Heads of AI attending Gartner Data & Analytics Summit. 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 Data & Analytics Officer (CDAO), or
  2. Business unit/ region/ government division Chief Data & Analytics Officer (CDAO) responsible for:
    1. Private sector: $250+ million in revenue
    2. Public sector: 1,000+ employees

CDAOs  and Heads of AI with client facing/ external responsibilities from a data and analytics vendor or consultancy are not eligible to participate.

You can apply to participate in the CDAO Circle Program when you register for Gartner Data & Analytics Summit. During the registration process, the program application will be prompted by answering ‘yes’ to the question, “Are you the Chief Data & Analytics Officer or do you serve in the Chief Data & Analytics 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.