Gartner ThinkCast

Don Scheibenreif, Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst focused on CX and AI, explores where empathy matters in AI-driven customer journeys. He tells real-world stories from travel, retail and public sector. Topics include when automation fails, identifying “moments of humanity,” balancing empathy with efficiency, and practical CIO actions to keep experiences human.

Chris Howard, Gartner's Chief of Research, dives into the intriguing world of AI hallucinations. He explains what these hallucinations reveal about machine cognition and their implications for business decisions. The discussion highlights how multiagent systems can revolutionize healthcare diagnostics by enabling collaborative solutions. Howard also explores physics-informed neural networks, showcasing their potential to align AI predictions with real-world laws. Surprisingly, he suggests that hallucinations could actually offer innovative perspectives to problem-solving.

Alicia Mullery, Gartner VP and analyst on workforce readiness and AI adoption, explains why human readiness—not tech—blocks AI value. She discusses why most AI projects stall, the three types of AI value, role redesign over layoffs, and the skills and change management needed for real impact.

Shameen Pillai, API strategy and governance expert, Akis Sklavounakis, platform engineering and developer productivity specialist, and Manjunath Bhat, software engineering and AI adoption strategist, discuss reorganizing engineering for AI. They cover team topologies to scale GenAI. They explain how platform engineering reduces cognitive load. They stress APIs as essential infrastructure and outline API maturity priorities.

Lee McMullen, a Gartner security and risk fellow who focuses on pragmatic cybersecurity operations, and Christine Lee, a Gartner research VP guiding CISOs on aligning security to mission goals, discuss using AI hype as strategic fuel. They cover using the Hype Cycle, outcome-driven metrics, AI literacy, securing agents, practical AI pilots, and real-world wins like automated remediation and policy bots.

Dave Aron, Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst and Research Fellow focused on disinformation and digital trust. He explores why disinformation has become an enterprise risk, how AI and deepfakes accelerate industrial campaigns, and why cybersecurity alone is insufficient. He outlines TrustOps, the need for cross-functional Trust Councils, content provenance tools, and urgent 90‑day actions leaders should take.

Paul Delory, Gartner VP analyst focused on infrastructure and continuous operations, and Autumn Stanish, Gartner director-level analyst specializing in IT operations and cloud strategy, discuss AI agents and I&O readiness. They cover AI agent sprawl and maturity risks. They explain continuous operations as guardrails, platform-centric I&O, and a one-year roadmap and 90-day plan to move from reactive to proactive.

Tina Nunno, Managing Vice President and Gartner Fellow who advises CIOs on board presentations and tech value. She explains why boards doubt IT investments and how to craft a shareholder-value first narrative. Topics include prep pitfalls, aligning team messages to board priorities, a four-quadrant value framework, and how to present innovation, differentiators, commodities and risk succinctly.

Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analyst who researches CEO agendas, outlines shifting CEO priorities for 2026. He describes the new “wicked messes” CEOs face and why traditional playbooks are failing. Topics include AI’s value conundrum, geopolitics and supply chain redesign, rising CEO churn, and how technology leaders can align strategy and investments to navigate turmoil.

Daryl Plummer, Distinguished VP Analyst and Gartner Fellow who leads research on future disruptions, previews major forces reshaping technology through 2030. He covers how AI and human behavior collide. He explains AI‑free trust and certification. He discusses AI sovereignty and geopolitical shifts. He explores AI agents and how adaptive materials could transform markets.