Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference 2026 Sydney: Day 2 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference 2026, taking place this week in Sydney, Australia. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference. You can read the highlights from Day 1 here.

On Day 2 from the conference, we are highlighting sessions on the top trends shaping the future of AI infrastructure; important I&O skills now and in the future; and how to successfully adopt agentic AI in observability.

• Gartner Predicts 40% of Organizations Deploying AI Will Use AI Observability to Monitor Model Performance by 2028
• Gartner Forecasts Australian Organizations Will Spend More Than A$33 Billion on Public Cloud in 2026

Presented by Mark Jaggers, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

In this session, Mark Jaggers, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, explored the technology trends poised to redefine AI infrastructure strategies. These trends will help I&O leaders ensure their infrastructure strategy is ready to support evolving AI demands and deliver a competitive advantage.

• “AI supercomputing is the engine that will power the AI enterprise future. This involves new technologies that many organizations haven’t used before, along with new constraints.”
• Build: “Don’t bring a ‘build it and they will come’ mindset; instead create an intentional burst from cloud strategy. This enables I&O teams to move fast, keep costs low and validate engine designs for value before scaling.”
• Deploy: “AI must be deployed more as inference scales – and inference is everywhere: cloud, data center and edge environments.”
• Scale: “As AI becomes more foundational to an organization, it becomes a critical infrastructure that needs to have a high degree of resiliency, safety and compliance baked-in.”
• “Treat your AI supercomputing platform like a product. Create a roadmap around the value it delivers today and how it will be scaled, without compromising service level objectives or scaling technical debt.”

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

Presented by Mark Margevicius, VP Analyst, Gartner

Today's teams frequently lack the skills required to proactively meet business needs. The rapid pace of ongoing transformations renders existing skills inadequate for many organizations. I&O leaders must prioritize development plans to cultivate the most essential skills within their teams. In this session, Mark Margevicius, VP Analyst at Gartner, provided guidance on effective upskilling methods that benefit both employees and organizations.

• “Almost 80% of CIOs and business leaders agree the skills and knowledge in organizations in 10 years’ time will bear little resemblance to those we have today.”

• Key issues I&O leaders are facing are: 

  • How will AI impact I&O skills now and in the future?

  • What market dynamics are affecting organizations’ ability to skill for I&O?

  • What are the critical, in-demand skills and competencies for I&O?

• “AI leaders sit at the intersection of AI expertise, IT skills and business/strategic knowledge. I&O leaders looking to fully leverage AI capabilities need to branch beyond IT skills and develop domain understanding of the business while also expanding specific AI skills.”

• “To meet evolving expectations without expending substantial effort on disappointing development initiatives, talent management strategies need to be adjusted to make the most of existing leadership teams.”

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

Presented by Padraig Byrne, VP Analyst, Gartner

Observability platforms are increasingly implementing intelligent agents to optimize or automate workflows with promises of productivity and cost reduction. However, questions remain around what is achievable and how organizations can realize these benefits. In this session, Padraig Byrne, VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed best practices for adopting agentic AI, as well as  dealing with managing risk, cultural and process change, and shifting roles and responsibilities.

• “Traditional observability is hitting a wall of complexity and cost. Despite having more data than ever, fragmented sources and poor quality reduce visibility and slow problem solving.”

• “Effective observability is essential for improving customer experience, reducing incident impact, proactive prevention and driving better business outcomes.” 

• “Agentic AI breaks down silos and accelerates root cause analysis by moving from explanation to action. This collaborative approach enables self-healing and self-optimizing systems, bridging the gap from data to insight to action.” 

• “Success requires more than technology. It demands changes in people, process and governance.” 

• "Start small and manage the hype. Focus relentlessly on business value improvements and not just operational metrics.” 

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