This year’s conference theme is Leadership in Motion. As AI moves from hype to enterprise-scale reality, CIOs stand at the forefront of business reinvention. 2026 brings new urgency for realizing value, responsible AI adoption, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity resilience. Explore our conference sessions below, all developed with this theme in mind.
All 2026 Conference Sessions
Gartner CIO Leadership Forum dives deep into key topics for CIOs around technology leadership, executive partnership and more to help you address your organization's mission-critical challenges.
2026 Conference Theme
Hear from Gartner Expert Brandon Germer on why CIOs can't miss Gartner CIO Leadership Forum 2026.
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Filter to see sessions that align with your interests. After registering for the conference, craft your agenda and book priority sessions — all through Conference Navigator.
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Monday, February 23, 2026
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST
Measuring What Matters in AI Learning Programs
Madelin Santana,
Sr Director Analyst, Gartner
How do you know if your AI learning programs are paying off? AI training is only as valuable as the business outcomes it delivers. Discover strategies to align AI upskilling initiatives with your organizational goals, using data-driven insights to measure effectiveness at every stage, from learner engagement to business transformation. Moving beyond learner completion rates is the only way to capture the true ROI of learning programs to effectively build a workforce equipped for the AI era.
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10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST
Increase Executive Influence Using Business Value Stories and Human Value Stories
Christie Struckman,
Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
CIOs continue to struggle to influence business executives, delaying budgets and derailing progress on business outcomes. Greater success comes from mastering two types of value stories: business value stories and human value stories. Both should be used to focus on each key stakeholder. This session will provide structures and best practices for creating these stories, including GenAI prompts for inspiration.
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10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST
Master 6 Cybersecurity Board Conversations to Survive and Thrive
Paul Proctor,
Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
There are times when the CIO has to have a cybersecurity conversation with the board that are critical, decisive and transformative. Six of them are “we just got hacked,” “a budget cut,” “ransomware readiness,” “AI is risky,” “technology debt,” and “cyber risk in M&A.” These are times when your influence can rise to the occasion with lasting effect or an opportunity to brush up your resume. Learn to master these conversations.
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10:45 AM - 11:15 AM MST
Get Started on Your Autonomous Business Journey
Don Scheibenreif,
Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
Autonomous business is the next business era, driven by AI and building on the foundations of digital business. But where do you start and how autonomous do you want your organization to be? In this session, we will share new research on autonomous business and discuss what organizations are doing to meet this challenge head-on.
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12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST
The State of AI Regulation: How to Build a Unified Strategy
Whit Andrews,
Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
AI regulations are now coming in just as fast as AI new products. Some say they will stifle innovation while others argue that they are late. Either way, CIOs will have to deal with a global regulatory wave that risks sinking their AI strategy. This session will provide a global overview of AI regulation, what to expect over the coming 12 months and how to prepare for a seemingly fragmented set of requirements.
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12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST
How AI Changes the IT Operating Model to Drive Success
Miles Gibson,
VP Analyst, Gartner
By rethinking the IT operating model through the lens of AI, CIOs can move beyond tactical cost reductions to unlock strategic value. This session will show how leading organizations leverage AI to drive step changes in IT operational agility, efficiency, proficiency and performance.
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12:15 PM - 12:45 PM MST
How to Put a $ Value on the Business Value of IT
Robert Naegle,
VP Analyst, Gartner
CIOs must forge a clear and measurable connection between IT initiatives and strategic business outcomes. Yet, one of the most persistent challenges they face is quantifying the value of IT in financial terms; how to put a $ value on IT's contribution to business outcomes? This session will equip CIOs with practical and actionable frameworks to bridge that gap, enabling them to articulate IT’s contribution in terms that drive strategic alignment and executive confidence.
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02:15 PM - 02:45 PM MST
The CIO's Guide to Evaluating Emerging Technologies
Jaime Capella,
Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
How can CIOs pick the right time to start experimenting with an emerging technology? CIOs must seize the opportunities that emerging technologies offer while mitigating the risks they pose to the organization. This session advises CIOs on how to evaluate your organization’s trigger point to start a POC with an emerging technology, based on assessing five sets of adoption constraints.
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02:15 PM - 02:45 PM MST
New-to-Role CIOs: Master Culture for Early Impact
Jennifer Carter,
Sr Principal Analyst, Gartner
Culture does not have to eat strategy for lunch. By mastering culture change, new-to-role CIOs can cultivate high-performing cultures as they engage peers and employees in their early initiatives.
By balancing a focus on planning and execution with engagement and collaboration, CIOs can execute strategy with a performance culture as an output. Attend this session to increase your culture mastery. ... Show More Show Less
By balancing a focus on planning and execution with engagement and collaboration, CIOs can execute strategy with a performance culture as an output. Attend this session to increase your culture mastery. ... Show More Show Less
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