Executive Summit

In high-achieving environments, the drive to succeed often comes at a quiet cost: exhaustion, disconnection, and a sense that no matter how much we accomplish, it’s never quite enough. When productivity becomes the only measure of worth, rest feels impossible—and burnout starts to look like the norm. But it doesn’t have to be.

In this keynote Kara Hardin, mental health educator and former lawyer, explores why our current approach to performance is backfiring—and what we can do instead. Through research, relatable stories, and practical tools, we’ll unpack:

• How common ideas about time, efficiency, and productivity are quietly harming individual and collective well-being
• Why mental health isn’t the reward for high performance—it’s the foundation
• What leaders can do (for themselves and their teams) to build a healthier, more sustainable relationship with work

This session is for anyone who wants to do meaningful work without losing themselves in the process.

The growing demands of consumers and shareholders are pushing enterprises to move beyond AI experimentation and into real-world deployment. CIOs must ensure their teams are ready for the shift. Matt Heinrichs and Angie Schulke share Life Time's AI journey, from where they started to where they’re headed next.
Join this session to explore:

• Using AI to supercharge existing and new products
• Improving how teams function through AI-driven automation
• Fostering and structuring an AI driven company and culture

While 89% of organizations plan to increase AI investments, 70% report that technical debt is their biggest barrier to adoption. The challenge isn't just technical—it's achieving modernization at enterprise scale without disrupting business operations across industries, including healthcare, financial services and more.

Join this session to discuss:

• How visionary CIOs are using AI to proactively eliminate technical debt
• How to reposition modernization from a sunk cost to a strategic differentiator
• Why traditional transformation methods fall short when dealing with hundreds of legacy applications

In today's rapidly evolving IT landscape, businesses are grappling with complex infrastructure challenges while seeking to harness the power of generative AI to drive innovation and operational efficiency. CIOs must spearhead strategy at the critical intersection of infrastructure and GenAI.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

• Integrating GenAI into your existing infrastructure
• Addressing business challenges such as optimizing resource allocation, enhancing security and improving scalability
• Using GenAI to streamline operations and accelerate digital transformation

Establishing a secure governance program that successfully aligns with business priorities is paramount. As data becomes increasingly available across multiple cloud environments, it's more important now than ever to preserve the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information used in business processes, applications, and technology. Security leaders must establish a secure, modern framework that protects data throughout its lifecycle.

Join this session to discuss:

• How to align data strategy with security objectives
• Strategies to ensure availability, integrity and confidentiality in data while mitigating risks
• The importance of complying with data-focused regulations while creating value from a data governance program

Connect with like-minded peers in a one-on-one setting through Gartner C-level Communities' Peer-to-Peer Meetings. You will be matched with peers in your community based on your shared interests and priorities.

As the role of the CIO expands, the potential for collaboration and knowledge sharing increases. This cross-industry exchange is key to driving IT innovation and operational excellence.

Join this interactive session to dive into hot topics and:

• Engage with like-minded CIO peers on shared priorities
• Validate strategies and uncover new ways of thinking
• Share proven best practices across industries

Leading CIOs seek to create a seamless user experience and leverage AI for superior customer outcomes. By creating more intimate and personalized interactions, AI can significantly improve client satisfaction and drive business growth. 

Join this session to learn how to: 

• Streamline processes and tailor AI insights for a better customer experience
• Capture and analyze customer interactions to derive actionable insights 
• Increase the efficiency and effectiveness in customer-facing functions

Swift recovery from IT disruptions is vital for sustaining business operations and financial stability. As IT environments become more complex, resilient strategies are essential for ensuring continuity. CIOs can utilize observability tools and other best practices to bolster IT resiliency, minimizing downtime and maintaining seamless operations during challenges.

Join this session to discuss:

• Leveraging observability for real-time situational awareness and faster incident resolution
• Architecting robust IT infrastructure to endure future disruptions
• Enhancing application reliability through proactive monitoring and automation

At the heart of GenAI models lies the concept of high-dimensional latent space where the model’s ‘understanding’ resides. However, unlike human cognition where knowledge can be assessed directly, latent space knowledge is not directly observable or easily interpretable. Agentic layers and responsible AI frameworks provide procedural oversight and a reasoning process that solves the AI black box problem.

Join this boardroom to discuss:

• Implementing agentic architectures that incorporate both procedural and AI-driven components
• Balancing AI innovation with the ethical imperatives of responsible AI use
• Shifting AI verification from reactive to proactive