Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2025 Orlando: Day 1 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week in Orlando, Florida. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference.

On Day 1 from the conference, we are highlighting the Gartner opening keynote presentation, top strategic technology trends for 2026 and autonomous business. Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

• Gartner Survey Finds All IT Work Will Involve AI by 2030; Organizations Must Navigate AI Readiness and Human Readiness to Find, Capture and Sustain Value 
• Gartner Identifies the Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2026
• Gartner Survey Reveals 50% of Non-U.S. CIOs and Technology Executives Anticipate Changes to Vendor Engagement Based on Regional Factors
• Gartner Predicts Enterprise Spending on Battling Misinformation and Disinformation Will Surpass $30 Billion by 2028
• Gartner Unveils Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2026 and Beyond

Presented by Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst, Chief of Research and Gartner Fellow, and Alicia Mullery, VP Analyst, Gartner

To achieve the next level of value in AI, CIOs must navigate the blinding hype surrounding AI readiness and the lagging progress of human readiness. In the Gartner Opening Keynote, Distinguished VP Analyst, Chief of Research and Gartner Fellow Daryl Plummer and VP Analyst Alicia Mullery discussed how CIOs can chart their own "golden path," navigating vendor choices, reimagining the workforce and redefining organizational identities to be agents of change.

• “Avoid the extremes of disbelief and hype regarding AI. Walk the Golden Path of AI readiness and human readiness to find, capture, and sustain AI value.”

• “Enterprises need a dedicated AI leader.”

• “Evaluate AI readiness and find AI value by calculating hidden AI costs and preparing for digital nation states.”

• “Build human readiness and capture AI value by developing critical skills and managing behavioral byproducts.”

• “Sustain AI value by preparing for the era of autonomous business.”

   

  Learn more in the Gartner press release "Gartner Survey Finds All IT Work Will Involve AI by 2030; Organizations Must Navigate AI Readiness and Human Readiness to Find, Capture and Sustain Value".

Presented by Gene Alvarez, Distinguished VP Analyst, and Tori Paulman, VP Analyst, Gartner

CIOs must look to the future to lead their organizations to success. CIOs and other IT leaders can use Gartner’s top strategic technology trends to keep their organizations heading safely into the future. In this session, Gene Alvarez, Distinguished VP Analyst, and Tori Paulman, VP Analyst, at Gartner, highlighted the top strategic technologies CIOs must know about to prepare for an uncertain future.

• The top strategic tech trends for 2026 represent more than technology shifts; they are catalysts for business transformation.

• AI Supercomputing Platforms: “Purpose-built for large-scale AI workloads. By combining accelerators, orchestration, and high-speed infrastructure, these platforms enable developers to innovate in real time without navigating hardware complexity.” 

• Multiagent Systems: “Modular architecture for multiple multiagent workflows to orchestrate cross-platform, protocol-driven teamwork between agents and humans.”

• Physical AI: “Extends AI into the physical world by sensing, understanding, and acting  in real environments.” 

• Preemptive Cybersecurity: “AI-powered SecOps, programmatic denial and deception, and comprehensive defense across global attack surfaces. This is a world where prediction is protection.”

   

  Learn about the rest of the top strategic tech trends and additional details on each one in the Gartner press release “Gartner Identifies the Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2026.”

Presented by Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

As AI and automation reshape competition, customers, products, operations and leadership, what will the future of business look like? In this session, Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, outlined the next phase: autonomous business.

• Autonomous business is a force multiplier. Go beyond technology leadership to create space for business innovation – this helps the CEO and board anticipate what’s next.”

• “Augmented workforce means greater impact. Identify roles that can benefit from AI-driven adaptive training to accelerate onboarding and support continuous learning.”

• “AI-powered products are raising consumer expectations. Automate product development with AI to drive innovation and unlock new revenue streams.”

• “Machine customers are increasing, so start preparing digital commerce platforms to handle inquiries and transactions from AI agents.”

• “The programmable economy will monetize new forms of value. Engage in developing and adopting fintech to support emerging economic exchanges.”

   

  Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner analyst by contacting Matt LoDolce at matt.lodolce@gartner.com

Presented by Chris Howard, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

The state of technology leadership is more in flux now than it has ever been, with those at the top of their cohort able to master the art of being truly great. In this session, Chris Howard, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, outlined CIO and technology executive’s ambitions, the path to achieve them, and the technologies involved in mastering their craft.

• “Top performing technology executives have three things in common: the ability to be agile in their platforms and people; the ability to manage risk; and the ability to be tenacious, to see things through to the end, to get value, and to keep going.​”

• “Year-over-year, CIOs and technology executives plan to increase their budget for AI and generative AI by 33% and 32% on average, even though overall IT budgets are mostly flat.” 

• “Pivots and reprioritization, not calendar-based planning, will dominate 2026.”

• “Driven by the geopolitics of AI, CIOs and technology executives should recognize that data sovereignty risks are now viewed by many of their peers as a critical consideration in developing a global vendor portfolio. By 2030, at least 50% of countries will implement comprehensive digital sovereignty laws to protect domestic economies and culture, significantly impacting global data flows.”

   

  Learn more about what CIOs should be focusing on for the next 18 months in the Gartner press release “Only 31% of U.S.-Based CIOs Anticipate Change to Vendor Engagement, Signaling Need To Reevaluate Vendor Relationships Based on Revised Geopolitical Assumptions."