Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2025 Barcelona: Day 1 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week in Barcelona, Spain. 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, revealing the top strategic predictions for 2026 as well as the top strategic technology trends for 2026, and discussing AI sovereignty in governments. Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

Presented by Gabriela Vogel and Rob O’Donohue, VP Analysts, 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, VP Analysts at Gartner, Gabriela Vogel and Rob O’Donohue, discussed how CIOs can chart their own "golden path," navigating vendor choices, reimagining the workforce and redefining organizational identities to become 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.”
• “Transcend limitations by embracing autonomous business.”

Learn more in the Gartner press release "Gartner Survey Finds AI Will Touch All IT Work by 2030."

Presented by Soyeb Barot, 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, Soyeb Barot, 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.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.

Presented by Dean Lacheca, VP Analyst, Gartner

The drive for autonomy in AI infrastructure, data, capabilities and solutions is likely to influence the adoption of AI solutions. In this session, Dean Lacheca, VP Analyst at Gartner, explained what AI sovereignty is and what government CIOs need to do to prepare.

• “55% of government CIOs outside of the U.S. anticipate a significant change to vendor engagement, depending on the region.”

• “Sovereign AI is not just about building AI. It’s about building our AI, shaped by our values, protected by our laws, and tailored to our unique needs.” 

• “Educate agency executives on the implications and urgency of national and regional sovereignty priorities and AI strategic direction.”

• “Support the development of a domestic AI ecosystem from a talent and capabilities perspective.”

• “Work with organization leadership to rank sovereignty risks, using prioritization to decide which require an immediate response.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.

Presented by Leigh McMullen, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

When it comes to predicting the future, CIOs can either embrace the opportunity to change or stand by as competition that takes the first mover advantage threatens their position. In this session, Leigh McMullen, Distinguished VP Analyst, Chief of Research and Gartner Fellow, unveiled the top predictions that CIOs can use as a call to action today to prepare for a soft-landing tomorrow.

• Through 2026, atrophy of critical-thinking skills, due to GenAI use, will push 50% of global organizations to require “AI-free” skills assessments. “Treating AI like a wizard could set us back 10 years.” 

• By 2027, 35% of countries will be locked into region-specific AI platforms using proprietary contextual data. “Employ model distillation as a tactic to reduce the impact of regional lock-in.”

• By 2028, organizations that leverage multiagent AI for 80% of customer-facing business processes will dominate. “Design processes for AI agents, not humans.”

• By 2028, 90% of B2B buying will be AI agent intermediated, pushing over $15 trillion of B2B spend through AI agent exchanges. “Make products machine-readable to unlock new markets.”

• By the end of 2026, “death by AI” legal claims will exceed 2,000 due to insufficient AI risk guardrails. “Create contingency funds for damaging AI incidents.”

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with the Gartner expert by contacting Laurence Goasduff at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com.