CIO Report on Gartner Symposium on AI with Tom Irvine

CIO Report on Gartner Symposium on AI with Tom Irvine 

In this special briefing, Tom Irvine shares insights from his recent attendance at the Gartner Symposium 2025.  Tom shared with us specifically the insights regarding Gartner’s view on AI in the Enterprise. 

Here are some of the highlights from Tom’s presentation: 

CEOs Are Committed to AI in the Enterprise, But Not Confident in Readiness

Nearly four out of five CEOs expect AI to have the greatest impact on their industry within the next three years. At the same time, a strong majority acknowledge that their current operating models are not prepared for an AI-driven environment.

Gartner describes this tension as an “AI reality check”: high ambition paired with low readiness. In practice, many organizations are seeing early productivity improvements, but not yet meaningful productivity or transformation. 

The Real Cost of AI Extends Beyond Implementation

Tom highlights a recurring theme from the Symposium: AI initiatives are consistently underestimated in both scope and cost.

While initial AI implementations average close to $2 million, Gartner emphasized that there are downstream costs that must also be accounted for. For example, training users and IT staff, managing organizational change, governing new tools and agents, and supporting ongoing operations all introduce significant additional effort.  In some cases, these expenses can exceed the original implementation work.

Gartner also cautions that most enterprises fail to account for the “long tail” of AI: identity management, data acquisition, monitoring, compliance, and tool sprawl that accumulates once AI solutions are deployed.

Governance Moves from Optional to Mandatory

As AI systems and agents operate faster than traditional controls can track, Gartner places renewed emphasis on governance. This includes clear decision rights, accountability, monitoring, vendor oversight, and ethical and risk frameworks.

Rather than positioning governance as a blocker, Gartner frames it as a prerequisite for scaling AI safely, particularly as enterprises move from experimentation toward autonomy and agent-driven workflows.

Human Readiness Is Now the Limiting Factor

A recurring insight from the Symposium is that AI tools are advancing faster than organizations can absorb them. Gartner introduced a new positioning model that contrasts AI capability with human readiness, noting that in most enterprises, technology is well ahead of skills, structure, and confidence.

This gap is evident in workforce sentiment as well. While employees show strong interest in using AI tools, far fewer express confidence in leadership’s ability to guide AI transformation effectively.

How AI Is Changing Work — and Who Benefits Most

Gartner’s perspective on workforce impact has also evolved. Early assumptions that AI would primarily accelerate junior staff are giving way to a more nuanced view that experienced professionals often gain the most value, as they can better judge output quality and apply results effectively.

This shift has implications for hiring models, organizational structure, and how leaders think about “return on employee” alongside traditional ROI.

What Gartner Says CIOs Must Do Next

Tom closes by outlining Gartner’s practical priorities for technology leaders.  Here are a few of their recommendations:

• Build AI literacy across business units
• Balance experimentation with governance
• Focus on value alignment, not tool adoption
• Reinforce AI skills continuously, not through one-time training
  
  

Gartner’s central message is that AI is not just another technology rollout. Success depends on enterprise-level change, and affects leadership, workforce readiness, governance, and execution discipline.

This article provides highlights from the presentation - be sure to watch the full briefing for the full report. 

▶ Watch the full briefing from Tom Irvine to hear how these insights connect, and what they mean for CIOs navigating AI strategy over the next 24 months.

Hosted by Alex Jarett, Founder, Technology Executives Club®