Managers are stretched thin, but remain the most powerful voice for employee trust.

In this episode of ThinkCast, Gartner VP Analyst Alexandra Earl introduces the 4 C's of Manager Communication Competencies: Championing, Coaching, Conversing and Connecting. From helping employees link strategy to daily work, to creating true two-way dialogue, Alexandra outlines a clear framework to elevate communication and improve team engagement.

You'll Learn:

• Why managers remain the most effective communication channel
• The 4 essential communication competencies every manager must build
• How contextualization helps employees see themselves in strategy
• Practical steps for self-assessment and peer support networks

Dig deeper:

• Learn more about Gartner for Communication Leaders
• Benchmark yourself with the Gartner Communications Score Tool
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights

This episode originally aired September 9, 2025

AI hype hasn't disappeared, but patience has.

In this episode of ThinkCast, recorded from the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum Opening Keynote, Gartner VP Analyst Tori Paulman breaks down why many AI initiatives stall after early wins — and what separates CIOs who move through the hype from those who fail to generate lasting value.

Hear why organizations making real progress with AI aren't chasing the next breakthrough use case. Instead, they're changing how they decide what to stop, when to quit, where to double down, and how to lead through the Trough of Disillusionment.

You'll learn:

• How CIOs who deliver value decide when to persist, pivot, or pull the plug
• What it really means to scale AI beyond pilots and proofs of concept
• Why "quitting better" is a leadership skill — not a failure
• How to move from AI hype toward an AI‑shaped organization

Dig deeper:

• Download our guide to realizing AI value
• Attend a Gartner CIO Conference near you
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights

AI is now everywhere, but trust is breaking down just as fast. As synthetic content floods our feeds and workflows, leaders face a new question: when does AI help, and when does it quietly undermine credibility?

In this episode of ThinkCast, Gartner Senior Director Analyst Deepak Seth returns to explore a growing counter‑movement: the rise of "AI‑free" trust. From content labels that signal human creation to new expectations around AI governance, Deepak breaks down why trust — not capability — is becoming the defining challenge of the next AI era.

You'll learn:

• Why "AI‑free" could become the new organic label for content and brands
• How trust, provenance and context shape responsible AI use
• What recent high‑profile failures reveal about over‑automation risks
• How CIOs can build guardrails without stalling innovation

Dig deeper:

• Watch the 7 Disruptions You Might Not See Coming
• Become a client to learn more about AI governance, trust and risk
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights

Most AI initiatives don't fail because the technology is wrong; they fail because the humans around it stop thinking as carefully as they used to.

In this episode of ThinkCast, recorded from a live session at Gartner CIO Leadership Forum, Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst Mandi Bishop breaks down why so‑called "soft skills" have quietly become the hardest — and most essential — capability to scale in the age of AI. From practical workforce exercises to Mandi's own racing experience, hear how over‑reliance, complacency and automation bias creep in — and how CIOs can rebuild critical thinking, judgment and contextual awareness to turn AI tools into true performance accelerators.

You'll learn:

• Why automation bias is one of the biggest hidden risks in AI adoption
• How soft skills like skepticism and judgment directly impact AI outcomes
• Why hands‑on techniques, like hallucination hunts, can build real AI literacy
• How better prompting reinforces human thinking instead of replacing it
• What CIOs can do now to operationalize soft skills across the enterprise

Dig deeper:

• Attend a Gartner CIO Conference near you
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights

AI can answer faster, personalize at scale, and automate entire customer journeys, but it can't make someone feel seen.

In this episode of ThinkCast, recorded from a live session at Gartner CIO Leadership Forum, Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst Don Scheibenreif explores why customer experience breaks down when efficiency overtakes empathy — and what CIOs can do to keep humanity at the center of AI‑driven design. Through real‑world stories from travel, retail, financial services and the public sector, Don shows how "moments of humanity" shape trust, loyalty and long‑term growth.

You'll learn:

• What happens when organizations over‑automate customer relationships
• How to recognize and design for moments that truly matter
• Where empathy fits into AI‑driven efficiency efforts
• Why CX challenges often stem from design decisions, not technology limits
• How CIOs can ensure AI enhances experiences without dehumanizing them

Dig deeper:

• Attend a Gartner CIO Conference near you
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights

In this episode of ThinkCast, we explore one of the most persistent — and evolving — challenges with AI: hallucinations.

Gartner Chief of Research Chris Howard breaks down what hallucinations really are, why they happen and what they reveal about how machines think. From multiagent systems to physics-informed neural networks, discover how the next wave of AI innovation is moving beyond prediction and toward precision, all while relying on AI-ready data.

You'll learn:

• Why hallucinations happen and what they say about how AI works
• How multiagent systems and PINNs are changing how machines reason
• When to use probabilistic neural networks vs. deterministic tools
• Why not every business problem needs AI
• How hallucinations might actually help reframe your thinking

Dig deeper:

• Download Gartner's CIO Agenda for 2026
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI

Most organizations don't have an AI problem — they have a human readiness problem.

Despite massive investment and accelerating adoption, most AI initiatives are falling short of real business impact. The reason isn't immature technology. It's that workforces, roles and leaders haven't been prepared for what AI actually changes.

In this episode, Gartner VP Analyst Alicia Mullery explains why the gap between AI innovation and AI outcomes continues to widen. In a preview of her recent webinar on workforce readiness, you'll hear what's really happening: not mass layoffs, but hiring restraint, role redesign, and a strategic remix of talent — all of which demand far more change management than most organizations anticipate.

You'll learn:

• Why most AI initiatives stall at productivity gains instead of delivering financial ROI
• The three types of AI value and how confusion between them derails results
• What's actually happening to jobs as AI adoption accelerates
• The essential skills every employee needs in an AI‑dominant future
• Why change management is the missing linchpin for sustained AI impact

Dig deeper:

• Register to watch the full Workforce Readiness webinar
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights
• See how Gartner is the world authority on AI

How should software engineering evolve for the age of AI? As organizations rush to weave GenAI and agentic AI into every product and workflow, engineering teams face a new reality: you can't scale AI without redesigning how software gets built.

In this episode, Gartner experts Manjunath Bhat, Akis Sklavounakis and Shameen Pillai break down what that redesign actually looks like. They'll explore the team structures that help scale GenAI to repeatable delivery, the platform patterns that reduce cognitive load and drive value, and the API strategies that AI implementation can't function without.

You'll learn:

• Why GenAI efforts fail without the right team structures
• How platform engineering reduces complexity and accelerates delivery
• Why APIs are the backbone of GenAI and agentic AI
• The five‑dimension API maturity model and where to focus first
• The tools and next steps to scale AI safely and effectively

Dig deeper:

• Learn more with Gartner for Software Engineering Leaders
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Become a client to try AskGartner

AI hype isn't slowing down, and for cybersecurity leaders, that's exactly the point. As organizations race to inject generative AI and AI agents into every corner of the business, CISOs face a new challenge: cutting through inflated expectations without getting left behind.

In this preview of the Opening Keynote from Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, Gartner experts Christine Lee and Leigh McMullen explain why now is the moment for cybersecurity to stop resisting the Hype Cycle, and start using it as a strategic advantage.

You'll learn:

• Why AI hype is becoming a catalyst, not a distraction, for cybersecurity
• How to use outcome‑driven metrics to guide smarter investments
• The biggest risks and realities of GenAI and AI agents
• What early AI adopters in cybersecurity are doing differently
• How embracing hype can strengthen resilience and unlock innovation

Dig deeper:

• Explore more Gartner for CISOs insights
• Attend a Gartner Cybersecurity Conference near you
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI
• Become a client to try AskGartner

Disinformation isn't just a societal problem anymore — it's an enterprise risk with real operational, financial and reputational consequences. And as AI supercharges the volume, speed and precision of misleading content, leaders are suddenly facing a new kind of threat: one that can't be contained by traditional cybersecurity alone.

Distinguished VP Analyst and Gartner Fellow Dave Aron joins us to unpack why organizations must prepare for a "world without truth" — and why building an enterprise-wide discipline called TrustOps is the next essential capability for leaders across the C-suite.

You'll learn:

• Why disinformation is exploding into a trillion‑dollar risk
• How industrial disinformation works
• Why cybersecurity can't handle modern misinformation
• The top 90‑day moves leaders must make to protect brand trust
• How a Trust Council becomes your frontline defense

Dig deeper:

• Buy the book, "World Without Truth"
• Attend a Gartner CIO Conference near you
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI

AI is accelerating faster than most IT organizations can keep up, and I&O leaders are feeling the impact. In this episode, Gartner experts Autumn Stanish and Paul Delory break down what AI's rapid rise really means for IT operations, and why doing nothing is no longer an option.

Drawing from their Opening Keynote presented at Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference, Autumn and Paul reveal the risks, realities and opportunities behind AI agents — and the urgent changes I&O teams must make to stay in front of the business instead of falling behind it.

Tune in to discover:

• The growing risk of "AI agent sprawl" and how to prevent it
• Why outdated operating models make I&O the bottleneck for AI adoption
• How continuous operations creates the guardrails needed for safe, scalable AI
• The roadmap that prepares your infrastructure for AI agents today

Dig deeper:

• Download the I&O Leadership Roadmap
• Attend a Gartner I&O Conference near you
• Try out AskGartner for more AI-powered insights
• See how Gartner is the world authority on AI