Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2026 APAC: Day 2 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place this week on the Gold Coast, 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 of the conference, we are covering sessions on how AI can actually cut costs; the future of data and analytics governance; how to increase board confidence in cybersecurity; and how to navigate agentic commerce.

• Gartner Unveils Top Strategic Predictions for 2027 and Beyond
• Gartner Reveals Top Technology Trends in Government

Presented by Val Sribar, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner 

Cost reduction is the most immediate and scrutinized AI value pathway, yet capturing savings remains a challenge. In this session, Val Sribar, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed where cost reduction is truly working across the enterprise and highlighted four economic constraints AI is changing to drive lasting savings. 

• “Enterprise cost reduction from AI rarely comes from productivity. It results from new capabilities changing the constraints that made costs economically necessary.” 
• “Economic leakage occurs when organizations accept a loss because prevention is not feasible or it is more costly under existing capabilities. AI changes that equation by requiring them to spend a bit more to lose a lot less.” 
• “AI can cut costs by reducing reliance on external providers, enabling organizations to deliver needed capabilities internally at the right cost, quality and scale.”
• “Lower capital intensity can improve cash generation, asset efficiency and return on invested capital. It can also avoid future capital expenditure.”
• “AI enables organizations to redesign work architecture, so capabilities no longer need to be concentrated in specific ways of working, roles, teams or locations. This unlocks new ways to reduce labor costs and organizational complexity.”

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

Presented by Sally Parker, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner

Effective data and analytics (D&A) governance practices are no longer optional. D&A governance is now at a tipping point – it is the single point of failure for organizations’ AI ambitions. CIOs must evolve how they approach D&A governance for the future, whilst ensuring foundational practices are in place. In this session, Sally Parker, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, provided a forward-looking perspective on D&A governance in the age of AI.

• “Data governance will be the single point of failure for organizations’ AI ambitions.”
• “AI is reshaping what gets governed, who is accountable for governance and how it is implemented in practice.”
• “Organizations must shift from binary views of data quality to a sliding scale of trust. This enables governance leaders to prioritize efforts where it matters most and to make adaptive governance a reality.”
• "Human stewardship can be built by upskilling AI-related skills like prompt engineering and risk management, then augmenting with technology where it adds value."
• There are five best practices organizations should follow to adapt D&A governance for the future depending on AI ambition:
  • Be explicitly business-outcome and risk driven
  • Scale adaptive governance of data and derived assets
  • Implement an integrated governance operating model
  • Ensure diversified and dynamic stewardship 
  • Implement technology enforced behavioral controls

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

Presented by Rob McMillan, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner

Boards lack confidence in their own cybersecurity oversight abilities and those of their CEO. Lack of board confidence spells trouble for CIOs because it can amplify pressure for unrealistic results, lower investment appetite and ultimately reduce business resilience. In this session, Rob McMillan, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, discussed how CIOs can empower a confident, cyber resilient board.

• “Ninety percent of non-executive board directors lack confidence in cybersecurity value.”

• “Fewer cybersecurity breaches won’t earn board trust – business alignment will.”

• “The key to increasing board confidence is to become a sense maker. Sense maker CIOs and CISOs have managed to earn their boards’ trust on “just right” levels of protection and cost.”

• “Being transparent about actual exposure levels and revealing uncomfortable truths builds board confidence.”

• “Real cybersecurity leadership means protecting what the organization values, from managing cost and reducing risk, to safeguarding revenue.” 

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

Presented by Daniel Sun, VP Analyst, Gartner

AI agents are poised to do for the AI economy what browsers did for the internet – unlocking new business models, ecosystems and ways of working. In this session, Daniel Sun, VP Analyst at Gartner, outlined the critical steps CIOs must take to ensure their organization is ready to capture value in the next wave of digital transformation.

• “AI agents will do for the AI economy what browsers did for the internet economy, reducing the cost of action and creating entirely new opportunities for growth, innovation and business models.” 

• “Agentic commerce is moving from concept to reality. By 2030, Gartner predicts 20% of digital commerce transactions will be executed through AI platforms, either through AI checkout or AI agents.”

• “The winners in agentic commerce will be organizations that make their products, services and processes readable, accessible and actionable for AI agents, not just human customers.” 

• “Agentic commerce is much more than a consumer phenomenon. It has the potential to transform how businesses sell, buy, negotiate, fulfill and manage commercial relationships across entire ecosystems.”

• “The question for CIOs is no longer whether agentic commerce will happen, but how quickly they can prepare their organizations, capabilities and governance to capture its value.”

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