Executives attend the yearly circuit of IT conferences in search of updates on the latest tech trends. At panels, sessions and symposiums, leaders have a chance to gauge their progress and spot areas for potential experimentation.
AI ruled discussion topics in the boardroom last year, leaving leaders to grapple with how to steer ambitious adoption efforts. As they confer with colleagues across banquet halls and auditoriums, AI will most likely remain top of mind.
But AI is not the only topic garnering CIO attention. Cloud cost management, overdue modernization plans and tech talent attraction are also pressing matters for IT chiefs — and a subject of water cooler discussion during industry events.
CIO Dive compiled a list of the top technology conferences worth attending for IT leaders:
Top CIO conferences in 2026
Google Cloud Next
April 22-24
Las Vegas
Google’s flagship annual conference will feature company executives talking about the latest trends in AI and cloud computing, as well as the vendor’s latest products and offerings. The 2025 event highlighted trends such as agentic AI and platform interoperability. The event draws business leaders and developers to learn and network.
Red Hat Summit
May 11-14
Atlanta
The open source technology conference for IT professionals features networking opportunities for technology industry leaders and open source community members. It also lets IT professionals, Red Hat customers and others collaborate on new technologies with hands-on learning opportunities.
AI & Big Data Expo North America
May 18-19
San Jose, California
The two-day event brings technology leaders together to discuss topics, such as natural language processing, ethical AI and data ecosystems. Speakers include Naresh Dulam, SVP of software engineering at JPMorgan Chase, and technology leaders from Hyatt Hotels and Walmart, as well as executives from major technology providers
MIT Sloan CIO Symposium
May 19
Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Sloan School of Management marks its 23rd annual gathering of enterprise technology executives this spring. The event brings CIOs from across industries together with analysts, consultants and vendor representatives for a day of in-depth discussions that dig into the latest trends in enterprise technology.
FinOpsX
June 8-11
San Diego
As the scope of FinOps practices expands, so does the agenda at the FinOps Foundation’s annual U.S. conference. FinOpsX will feature sessions on the latest driver of overspend — AI. Speakers include AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud executives and practitioners from Electronic Arts, Starbucks and more.
American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit
June 9-10
San Francisco
This yearly summit for technology and cyber professionals will bring together top executives for in-depth discussions on AI, machine learning, cloud and cybersecurity themes. Notable speakers for the 2026 edition include leaders at Mastercard, Tyson Foods, UnitedHealth Group and more.
Info-Tech Live
June 9-11
Las Vegas
More than 4,000 technologists from analyst firm Info-Tech Research Group will convene in Las Vegas for a comprehensive look at the key trends shaping executive decisions on technology. Author Malcolm Gladwell is slated to deliver a keynote speech.
Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo
Orlando, Florida
Oct. 19 - 22
Analyst firm Gartner convenes a yearly, multiday conference setting the themes of its research for the year ahead and highlighting key industry case studies in enterprise technology. The 2025 conference established multiagent systems as a key strategic trend for leaders to watch.
Grace Hopper Celebration
Oct. 27-30
Anaheim, California
With a rich history dating back to 1994, this tech conference primarily brings together women and nonbinary technology pros to discuss skills, career paths and the state of technology. Previous events have featured speakers from Microsoft, The Walt Disney Company, Capital One and other leading businesses.
The AI Summit
Dec. 9-10
New York
With a decade of annual conferences under its belt, The AI Summit continues to convene leaders to discuss business outcomes, use cases and project potential of enterprise AI. The event typically lasts two days and features a diverse set of speakers from leading businesses and large tech providers.
AWS re:Invent
Nov. 10 - Dec. 4
Las Vegas
This cloud and AI-focused event features AWS experts discussing new services and technologies. It also offers peer-to-peer learning events, discussions led by technology experts and networking opportunities. The 2024 event focused on generative AI pain points and AWS’s pragmatic approach to adding AI to its products and services.
Microsoft Ignite
Nov. 17 - 20
San Francisco
Microsoft's annual event draws broadly from the ranks of IT professionals, developers, vendors and consultants. Attendees can expect keynotes by company executives, product announcements from Azure and other Microsoft divisions, as well as hands-on workshops and demos.
Forrester Technology and Innovation Forum
Austin, Texas; New York
Sept. 14-15; Nov. 4-5
Analyst firm Forrester split its annual conference into two events this year, where industry leaders can expect in-depth looks at the most pressing topics for CIOs. Past speakers have included executives from Microsoft, Chevron, BNY, the City of Dallas and more.
Disclosure: The AI Summit and CIO Dive are run by Informa, which owns a controlling stake in Informa TechTarget, the publisher behind CIO Dive. Informa has no influence over CIO Dive’s coverage.
