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Caitlyn McDonough
VP Analyst
Gartner
Speaker Topics
- AI's Impact on the Workforce
- CHRO Leadership and Executive Partnership
- AI in HR
- Future of Work and Trends
- Enterprise Change Management
- Workforce Planning and Succession
- HR Transformation and Role Evolution
Speaker Bio
Caitlyn McDonough is leading the development of this year’s Gartner HR Symposium opening keynote, exploring HR’s role in shaping the future of work with AI.
In addition to her keynote work, Ms. McDonough advises a global network of HR leaders on strategic workforce planning. Her research focuses on helping organizations prepare for the future of work, including identifying the work most critical to business strategy, understanding how AI will reshape work, forecasting future talent needs, and determining the investments required to build a strategy-aligned workforce.
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In addition to her keynote work, Ms. McDonough advises a global network of HR leaders on strategic workforce planning. Her research focuses on helping organizations prepare for the future of work, including identifying the work most critical to business strategy, understanding how AI will reshape work, forecasting future talent needs, and determining the investments required to build a strategy-aligned workforce.
Sessions
Monday, 16 November, 2026 09:00 AM - 09:45 AM AEDT
Gartner Opening Keynote: Built to Perform ─ Delivering New Combinations of Talent and Technology
Arj Bagga,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Caitlyn McDonough,
VP Analyst, Gartner
CEOs are reshaping their organizations so the blend of human and AI capability makes performance inevitable. This leaves CHROs with a paradox: they must build a workforce to deliver strategy when the work itself is undefined. Join this session to learn how CHROs and their teams drive faster, clearer work decisions, anticipate future roles and skills, and ready an unsettled workforce to perform in any context.
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Monday, 16 November, 2026 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM AEDT
Ask the Analyst: Questions for the Opening Keynote Team
Arj Bagga,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Caitlyn McDonough,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Join the Gartner Opening Keynote team right after the Keynote to discuss the topic further, as well as have a chance to ask questions and get answers to your top takeaways.
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Tuesday, 17 November, 2026 03:30 PM - 04:00 PM AEDT
A New Enterprise Framework for Strategic Workforce Planning
Caitlyn McDonough,
VP Analyst, Gartner
Organizations are struggling to align the workforce with business strategy as AI reshapes work. This session introduces a new workforce planning framework that helps CHROs connect strategy, work, technology, and talent decisions. Attendees will learn how to identify the work and workforce capabilities most critical to strategy, account for how work will be delivered across people and AI, and secure investments needed to close workforce gaps. This approach elevates workforce planning into a board-level discussion about the workforce investments required to execute enterprise strategy.
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