Gartner's Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2027: The Rise of the Agentic Workforce

What happens when AI agents outnumber human employees?

In this special episode of ThinkCast, Gartner Distinguished Vice President Analyst Gene Alvarez joins from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in Orlando to break down the Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2027. From the rise of autonomous AI agents and digital employees to sovereign technology and the future of enterprise resilience, Gene explores the forces reshaping business and technology. Hear what CIOs and technology leaders should be doing today to prepare for what's next.

You'll learn:

• Why organizations could soon have more AI agents than employees
• What an "agentic workforce" means for business growth and productivity
• How speech reasoning and world models are expanding AI beyond text
• Why governance, identity and control are becoming critical

Dig deeper:

• Learn more about the Gartner Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2027
• Explore more top insights from Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™
• See why Gartner is the world authority on AI

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(00:50) The three-course strategic menu for CIOs

(01:49) Why technology is becoming the business itself

(03:12) Course 1: Leverage the nontextual AI frontier

(05:10) Course 2: Govern the autonomous agent platform

(07:40) Course 3: Architect durable agility

(11:07) The trend leaders may be least prepared for

(12:03) Final takeaway for CIOs looking ahead