Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2025 APAC: Day 3 Highlights

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

On Day 3 of the conference, we are covering sessions on the future of analytics in the AI era; how to address risks in AI and GenAI contracts; a CIO’s guide to emerging technologies; and how to avoid technology buyer’s remorse.

• Gartner Unveils Top Emerging Technologies to Support Autonomous Business
• Gartner Reveals Top Technologies Shaping Government AI Adoption
• Gartner Forecasts IT Spending in Australia to Exceed $172 Billion in 2026

Presented by Fay Fei, Senior Principal Analyst, Gartner

Analytics is experiencing a monumental change in the era of generative AI. In this session, Fay Fei, Senior Principal Analyst at Gartner, discussed the new technologies that are making an impact and how they will affect plans for future investment in analytics tools, platforms and solutions.

• “We’re moving from an era where analytic tools help business people make decisions, to a future where GenAI-powered analytics becomes perceptive and adaptive.”
• “This future will enable dynamic and autonomous decisions that have the potential to transform enterprise and consumer software, business processes and models.” 
• “Perceptive analytics uses LLM-powered reasoning and AI agents to achieve proactive, contextual, outcome-driven decision-making.”
• “By 2027, augmented analytics capabilities will evolve into autonomous analytics platforms that fully manage and execute 20% of business processes.”
• “Organizations must adapt their data and analytics roadmaps to incorporate perceptive analytics. Then begin building a portfolio aligned with their value stream.”

Presented by Jo Liversidge, VP Analyst, Gartner

AI and generative AI (GenAI) bring new contract risks involving customer data, responsible AI and agentic AI. These risks are made more complex by changing pricing models, which can make costs unpredictable. In this session, Jo Liversidge, VP Analyst at Gartner, outlined how CIOs can handle the unique challenges of AI and GenAI contracts compared to traditional software and SaaS agreements.

• “Make sure vendors are clear about how they use and access data, and how they handle responsible AI – this helps manage contract risks.”
• “Watch for market changes. Adoption enthusiasm combined with unique cost drivers make navigating commercials precarious for the foreseeable future.”
• “Buyers want predictable and transparent pricing. Vendors don’t typically provide that, so it is vital for buyers to investigate the models and negotiate.” 
• “Play an active role in shaping future standards by pushing vendors to be transparent, predictable and focused on reducing risks.”

Presented by Gene Alvarez, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

CIOs must balance the opportunities and risks that emerging technologies pose as they begin to experiment with them within their organizations. In this session, Gene Alvarez, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed how to identify the right moment to begin a proof of concept (POC) by evaluating five key adoption challenges.

• “Check if an emerging technology is technically feasible by weighing up its opportunities and risks.”
• “To determine financial feasibility, review the upfront and ongoing costs to see if the benefits and performance justify the investment.”
• “Validate vendor viability to make sure vendors are reliable and that there’s a sustainable market for the technology as it moves beyond an innovation lab into deployment.” 
• “Evaluate organizational readiness to identify barriers to the technology’s deployment within the organization, such as culture and leadership.”
• “Consider external factors outside the organization’s control that might be obstacles to adoption, such as environmental impact, social acceptance and regulations.."

Presented by Luke Ellery, VP Analyst, Gartner

Gartner research indicates 79% of technology purchases lead to regret. In this session, Luke Ellery, VP Analyst at Gartner, shared five ways CIOs can shift from risk-averse, process intensive buying to agile buying – a key skill for executing strategy.

• “Involving senior business leaders as sponsors to guide technology buying doubles the chances of a successful, regret-free deal.”
• “Clearly define desired business outcomes for technology investments. It doesn’t just help find the right solutions, it refines the strategy and helps vendors assess fit.”
• “Adopt lean, dynamic and agile procurement approaches – they are 1.8 times more likely to result in high quality deals compared to other approaches.”
• “Taking a risk-tolerant approach has the greatest impact on achieving high quality deals. Understand the risks and be prepared to mitigate them to achieve desired outcomes.”
• “Negotiation relies on leverage. Build a negotiation plan and strategy with stakeholders to improve results.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Emma Keen at emma.keen@gartner.com.