As AI capabilities accelerate faster than many organizations can adapt, CIOs are being challenged to balance ambition with readiness. So how can leaders walk the "golden path" to real, sustainable value? In this episode of ThinkCast, Gartner experts Alicia Mullery and Daryl Plummer break down their Opening Keynote from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, and explore how to align both AI readiness and human readiness to capture meaningful outcomes. They discuss why many AI initiatives struggle to achieve ROI, how to measure "good enough" accuracy, and what it means to scale AI maturity without leaving your workforce behind. Tune in to discover: Why only 1 in 5 AI initiatives see real return — and how to change the odds How to use the Gartner Positioning System to evaluate readiness The difference between conversational agents and autonomous decision-making agents Why a value remix may be more effective than workforce reduction How aligning tech readiness and human capability unlocks "shockwave" innovation Dig deeper: Download the Opening Keynote takeaways on AI readiness Join us at a Gartner CIO Conference near you Become a client to try out AskGartner for more trusted insights
