Gartner ThinkCast – Details, episodes & analysis

As AI capabilities accelerate faster than many organizations can adapt, CIOs are being challenged to balance ambition with readiness. So how can leaders walk the "golden path" to real, sustainable value?

In this episode of ThinkCast, Gartner experts Alicia Mullery and Daryl Plummer break down their Opening Keynote from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, and explore how to align both AI readiness and human readiness to capture meaningful outcomes. They discuss why many AI initiatives struggle to achieve ROI, how to measure "good enough" accuracy, and what it means to scale AI maturity without leaving your workforce behind.

Tune in to discover:

• Why only 1 in 5 AI initiatives see real return — and how to change the odds
• How to use the Gartner Positioning System to evaluate readiness
• The difference between conversational agents and autonomous decision-making agents
• Why a value remix may be more effective than workforce reduction
• How aligning tech readiness and human capability unlocks "shockwave" innovation

Dig deeper:

• Download the Opening Keynote takeaways on AI readiness
• Join us at a Gartner CIO Conference near you
• Become a client to try out AskGartner for more trusted insights

As 2026 approaches, AI innovation is accelerating faster than human readiness — so how can CIOs and IT leaders stay ahead?

In this episode of Gartner ThinkCast, recorded on site at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in Orlando, Florida, Gartner experts Chris Howard and Gene Alvarez share key takeaways from three cornerstone sessions: the Opening Keynote, Top Strategic Technology Trends, and the CIO Agenda. They explore how CIOs can walk the "golden path" to value, balance AI ambition with operational readiness and prepare their teams for a future defined by agility, risk management and tenacity.

Tune in to discover:

• Why heroes are made in the Trough of Disillusionment
• How CIOs can align human and AI readiness
• The rise of multiagent systems and domain-specific language models
• What the Architect, Synthesist and Vanguard roles mean for 2026 strategy
• Why success depends less on budget and more on resilience, adaptability and trust

 Dig deeper:

• Download the Opening Keynote takeaways on AI readiness
• Explore Gartner's Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2026
• Join us at a Gartner CIO Conference near you
• Become a client to try out AskGartner for more trusted insights

With agentic AI quickly becoming widespread, we dive into the next evolution of AI agents — guardian agents.

As part of our Top of Mind series of insights, Distinguished VP Analyst Daryl Plummer joins to lead us through how guardian agents are emerging as a critical tool for organizations deploying AI agents. As AI agents become more common, guardian agents will monitor, oversee and even protect against rogue AI behavior to ensure quality and security.

Tune in to discover:

• What guardian agents are and how they differ from today's AI agents
• The phases of guardian agent evolution: quality, observation and protection
• Why guardian agents will be essential for AI governance and trust
• How protecting AI with AI could redefine safety and innovation for enterprises

Dig deeper:

• Buy tickets to Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™  to hear more
• Explore how to Capitalize on the AI Agent Opportunity
• Gartner clients, learn to enable the delivery and ensure robustness of these new capabilities: Emerging Patterns for Building LLM-Based AI Agents

This episode originally aired March 11, 2025

Especially if you work at a large, traditional organization, it's important to find ways to think more creatively — and drive the actions that come out of these new ways of looking ahead. Your — and your company's — success depends on it. And that's where a new approach we call  "rogue thinking" comes in.

Here to discuss the newest research on the practice, how to become a rogue thinker, and the many benefits behind it are Penny Gillespie, a Vice President and Gartner Fellow in our Customer Experience and Digital Commerce team, and Whit Andrews, a Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in our Applications and Software Engineering Group. Press play to learn from innovative organizations, understand where others get tripped up and discover seven daily actions to become a rogue thinker.

Dig Deeper

Download: 3 Strategic Actions for Successful Leadership

https://gtnr.it/3HdILnG

Download: New Ways to Organize for Collaboration and Speed

https://gtnr.it/3EPntgx

Our new research shows that just one in four employees feel connected to their organization's culture. Yet, employees who feel this way experience a 36% boost in performance and retention. You've likely heard plenty of conversation about what the workforce now expects from their employers, especially when it comes to culture — and this is exactly why.

Here to discuss their research and insights into organizational culture are Alexia Cambon, a Research Director in Gartner's HR research practice, and Mark Whittle, a Vice President of Research & Advisory, who also works within our HR practice. Listen as they explore changes in how we experience culture and connectedness, how progressive organizations can do a better job fostering these things and what's on the horizon. 

Dig Deeper

Explore: The Future of Work Reinvented

https://gtnr.it/36S6aOJ

Download: Redesigning Work for a Hybrid Future

https://gtnr.it/3rpJxsG

Learn More: Gartner ReimagineHR Conference: The Premier Conference for CHROs and Their Teams

https://gtnr.it/3uIaUzS

Sixty percent of HR leaders are significantly concerned about employee turnover, and 62% of candidates have explored a career change in the last year. Top that off with the fact that a recent Gartner survey showed nearly three-quarters of candidates who receive a job offer have at least one other offer on the table, and it's clear that attracting and retaining talent is a top-of-mind challenge for all business leaders.

We also know that 41% of managers report needing to increase base salary an average of 15% to backfill roles. It raises the question, how can leaders attract and retain top talent if their budgets don't support this level of funding? Graham Waller, a Distinguished VP Analyst on Gartner's digital business leadership research team, and Jamie Kohn, a Research Director in our human resources practice, join us today to discuss just that.

Dig Deeper

Explore: The Future of Work Reinvented

https://gtnr.it/36S6aOJ

Download: Reinvent Your EVP for a Postpandemic Workforce

https://gtnr.it/3sBdyq5

Watch: Manage Attraction Risk Using Labor Market Intelligence

https://gtnr.it/35mBzsi

Gartner estimates that there are 2.7 billion frontline workers — more than twice the number of desk-based workers. Yet, when it comes to discussing the future of work, the former are too often conspicuously absent from the conversation. 

In the second episode of our four-part series around where, how, and when work gets done, Dana Stiffler, a Vice President in Gartner Research with expertise in supply chain talent strategies, and Piers Hudson, a Senior Director in Gartner's HR Research practice, join us to discuss creating equity between frontline and so-called knowledge workers, the top attraction and retention drivers for frontline workers, and why flexibility, choice and autonomy are key.

Dig Deeper

Explore: The Future of Work Reinvented

https://gtnr.it/36S6aOJ

Download: Strengthen Your Employee Value Proposition

https://gtnr.it/3IyMWes

Watch: The Equity Imperative: How Fairness Improves Performance and Employee Experience

https://gtnr.it/3JxuxzO

Fifty-two percent of respondents to a recent Gartner survey said the pandemic made them question the purpose of their day-to-day job, and 50% said it changed their expectations of their employer. It explains why we've been hearing so much about the so-called Great Resignation.

In the first episode of a new series around the ever-evolving future of work, Chris Howard, Gartner's Chief of Research, and Michelle Bazargan, a Senior Director of Strategy and Innovation, discuss how we arrived at the current moment, what leaders can do to adapt and, more so, fuel innovation, and what they expect to see come out of this reckoning.

Dig Deeper

Explore: The Future of Work Reinvented

https://gtnr.it/36S6aOJ

Download: 3 Strategic Actions for Success in the Year Ahead

https://gtnr.it/3HdILnG

Download: Reinvent Your EVP for a Postpandemic Workforce

https://gtnr.it/3sBdyq5

Inclusion, as represented by the "I" in the "DEI" acronym, may come last, but it is an essential part of the puzzle — and the value proposition for employees. This is especially true in the wake of the pandemic and during the so-called great resignation, when it's more important than ever to treat employees as people first.

In the third and final episode of a three-part series around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), guest host Rob O'Donohue, a Senior Director, Analyst in Gartner's CIO Research Group, sits down with Christie Struckman, a VP Analyst on Gartner's CIO Research team. Tune in to hear their wide-ranging discussion on the key principles of inclusion, where we fail to live up to our inclusive ideals, and how every leader can do better.

Dig Deeper

Explore: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resource Center

https://gtnr.it/3h1zbt9

Download: Develop Inclusive Leadership for Future Success

https://gtnr.it/3BEcXHb

Download: 3 Strategic Actions for Successful Leadership

https://gtnr.it/3HdILnG

Here at Gartner, we define equity as the "fair treatment and equality of access to opportunity, information and resources, built through identification and elimination of unfair biases, stereotypes or barriers that may inadvertently exclude underrepresented employees." It's a concept that's rapidly gaining momentum with organizations as they look to advance representation and improve business outcomes.

In the second episode of a three-part series around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), guest host Rob O'Donohue, a Senior Director, Analyst in Gartner's CIO Research Group, sits down with Emily Strother, a Senior Researcher here at Gartner, where she works with the HR practice on employee experience, the employee value proposition, and DEI. Tune in to their discussion about the key differences between equity and equality, the benefits of working in an equitable organization, and how hybrid work is changing the conversation.

Dig Deeper

Explore: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resource Center

Download: How to Measure Your DEI Efforts 

Watch: How to Develop Future-Ready Leaders