Three Key Themes for CIOs in 2026

CIOs continue to lead through a volatile and uncertain environment, and the rapidly evolving business landscape shows no signs of easing in 2026. CIOs are trying to remain agile with their plans and resources, while driving their AI, digital and risk management initiatives forward. For the past couple of years, CIOs have been spearheading AI implementation and investments for their organizations, aiming to create operational efficiencies and assess the tangible advantages AI can offer.

As community members prepare for another year of peer-driven programs, CIOs across Gartner CIO Communities are sharing their priorities, opportunities and challenges through annual surveys and interviews. This feedback guides the agendas for all community events and discussions, ensuring that every gathering is driven By CIOs, For CIOs®.

Looking ahead, three key themes have emerged for CIOs in 2026:

1. Adapting for Strategic Agility

In 2026, CIOs must continue to embrace agility, reprioritizing initiatives and making bold decisions in response to geopolitical shifts, new digital laws, and continued widespread disruption. As Gartner notes in the 2026 CIO Agenda, CIOs need to acknowledge and lean into “evolving strategic assumptions, or ‘pivots’... moving away from previous conventional thinking.” This means that CIOs have to engage in ongoing scenario planning and rapid resource reallocation, rather than static plans. One community member described their approach to 2026 planning this way: “Remain agile, develop scenarios and alternate plans and preparations, create risk mitigation plans and preparations and limit lock-in or long-term commitments.”
 

1. Assessing Investment and Financial Impact of AI

While overall IT budgets are only increasing slightly in most cases, CIOs will continue to see heavy investment in AI – along with high expectations to realize value from these investments. IT leaders are under pressure to demonstrate clear financial returns from these technologies, moving beyond “time saved” to measurable cost reductions or revenue gains. Delivering value from AI has been a top priority for CIOs all year, according to thousands of responses to our proprietary Leadership Perspective Survey. In comments and follow-up conversations, IT leaders shared that they have moved from theoretical to tactical use cases that provide measurable results from AI.

In the 2026 CIO Agenda, Gartner also cites this shift in CIOs’ approach to AI: “The strategic assumption shift is moving from pivoting and experimenting with AI and generative AI (GenAI) to extending and scaling, with agentic AI as a direct path to measurable ROI.” CIOs acknowledge the opportunity and the challenge in scaling across their organizations. One executive shared that “The board views AI as transformative. The challenge lies in initiating the process, budgeting, and selecting the right partners for implementation.”
 

1. Managing Risk & Regulation Through Geostrategic Sourcing

Cybersecurity and risk management are critical focus areas for CIOs year after year. Now, risk management is becoming increasingly complex, with a need to shift from global to regionally-aligned sourcing strategies due to concerns about data sovereignty and tariffs. CIOs must act as “risk sentinels,” carefully balancing global versus local vendor choices in a rapidly changing regulatory landscape. One CIO acknowledged this complexity in their survey comments: “There are new regulatory rules in multiple countries, and keeping up with compliance has been a lot…Technology continues to expand and sprawl, and at some point, it's too much.”
 

We look forward to a new year of bringing C-level IT executives together to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another on the topics that matter to them most. To participate in a community, apply to join your local CIO Community, or if you are already a member, sign in to the app to learn more and register for upcoming community programs.