Gartner ThinkCast The 4 Biggest Challenges for IT Leaders in 2026
15 snips
Nov 18, 2025 
Mary Mesaglio, a Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst, shares her insights on the future challenges for IT leaders based on her discussions at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo. She highlights four key challenges: geopolitical volatility, AI vendor races, workforce identity shifts, and the need for strategic flexibility. Mesaglio emphasizes the importance of optionality in decision-making and treating AI's impact on workforce identity as a critical threat, urging leaders to co-create roles to maintain employee engagement.
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Volatility Meets Slow Business Reconfiguration
- Geopolitical and economic volatility is high while business reconfiguration is slow, creating decision friction for leaders.
- Revenue is decoupling from headcount, yet leaders still must rely on humans during this transition.
Revenue Decouples From Headcount
- Revenue generation is increasingly decoupled from human headcount, signaling long-term structural change in work.
- CIOs still must plan for a hybrid workforce while uncertainty about roles persists.
Fast-Moving AI Vendor Races
- AI vendor races are accelerating, forcing CIOs to make long-term bets under uncertainty.
- It remains unclear which vendors or technologies will win, complicating strategic choices.