Gartner Finance Symposium/Xpo 2026 London: Day 2 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from the Gartner Finance Symposium/Xpo 2026, taking place this week in London. Below is a collection of key announcements and insights coming out of the conference.

On Day 2 of the conference, we are highlighting sessions Finance's 2026 AI Report Card, Building a Better Relationship with your CIO, and Next Level Delegation for CFOs.  Be sure to check this page throughout the day for updates.

• Gartner Says CFOs Need Structured Finance AI Roadmaps
• Gartner Says Frontier Finance Teams Will Overhaul Enterprise Decision Making by 2030

Presented by Marco Steecker, Sr. Director Analyst, Gartner

The adoption and implementation of  artificial intelligence within the finance function is varied. In this session, Marco Steecker, Sr. Director Analyst at Gartner, provided actionable insights into operational improvements,  highlighted current advancements, and forecast future impacts driven by AI.

• Finance has made progress on AI adoption and the normalization of AI use in day-to-day staff workflows, but needs to strengthen the value it gets from AI deployments by ensuring they are tackling business-relevant problems.

• Many financial organizations encounter stalls in AI adoption due to unclear business cases and skepticism within their organization, but AI literacy initiatives and clear ROI and cost metrics can help accelerate progress.

• Upgrading infrastructure and prioritizing data quality are essential to avoiding stall out, especially when organizations aim to approach AI at scale.

• Talent shortages in AI and analytics frequently slow workforce development. Targeted upskilling programs and strategic hiring initiatives address this gap.

• New developments in AI, such as embedded AI assistants within finance platforms and AI-enabled simulation, have the potential to transform finance’s work, but need to be closely monitored and governed to ensure their effectiveness.
  

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with Marco Steecker by contacting Rob van der Meulen at rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com.

Presented by Mallory Barg Bulman, Sr. Director Analyst, Gartner

Finance and IT leaders have opportunities to strengthen their partnership to maximize the value of technology investments. In this session, Mallory Barg Bulman, Sr. Director Analyst at Gartner, emphasized the importance of structured collaboration, transparent communication, and shared decision-making to drive organizational success.

• Recognize the value of constructive tension in the CFO-CIO relationship . Organizations are facing hard decisions and will be advantaged when CFOs and CIOs can discuss tradeoffs that do not require everyone to “win-a-little.”

• Establish clear decision-making norms. Quantifying perspectives and setting escalation criteria helps surface disagreements early and reduces surprises.

• Keep open communication. Unified strategies between finance and IT leaders are essential for successful technology adoption.

• Regularly review IT investments with quantitative measures. This ensures alignment with organizational goals and maximizes impact.

• Institutionalize structured practices. Doing so supports effective joint leadership and helps organizations realize the full potential of their technology initiatives.

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with Mallory Bulman by contacting Rob van der Meulen at rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com.

Presented by Dymah Paige, Director Analyst, at Gartner

Finance leaders must move beyond traditional task delegation and embrace outcome-based delegation. In this session, Dymah Paige, Director Analyst, at Gartner, shared the importance of building trust, empowering teams, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

• CFOs must model the high-trust behaviors necessary to drive employee engagement and performance.

• Transitioning from task-based to outcome-based delegation empowers delegates with greater ownership while supporting their learning and development.

• To enhance their teams’ decision making and confidence in execution, CFOs must share their experiences, providing the necessary context, and relationship building with impacted stakeholders. 

• Preemptive agreement on the appropriate escalation triggers for leader re-engagement ensures accountability while avoiding micro-management.

• The regular reflection of CFOs and their teams on how to deploy learnings towards improved outcomes creates the high trust environments that stimulate  innovation and drive results.

Journalists can receive additional information and/or request an interview with Dymah Paige by contacting Rob van der Meulen at rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com.