IT Operations Are Not Ready for AI Agents: How to Respond Today

**Karen Stokes-Lockhart** (0:06)
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Welcome to Gartner ThinkCast. I'm Karen Stokes-Lockhart. Today, we're breaking down how AI and the hype surrounding it is reshaping IT. In this preview of the Opening Keynote from the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations and Cloud Strategies Conference, Gartner experts Autumn Stanish and Paul Delory cut through the hype to reveal what AI really means for the future of IT I&O. From cost cutting pressures to the promise and pitfalls of AI agents, you'll hear why doing nothing is no longer an option, and how infrastructure and operations leaders can stay ahead rather than get left behind. Now, here's Autumn and Paul.

**Autumn Stanish** (1:23)
I am so glad that we could all get together one last time before we all get replaced by AI.

**Paul Delory** (1:31)
Now, wait a minute.

**Autumn Stanish** (1:32)
Hang on, hang on, hang on. Autumn, we were both at our Symposium Expo, right? Symposium is our main conference for CIOs. What did CIOs want to talk about more than anything?

**Paul Delory** (1:44)
Oh, AI, of course.

**Autumn Stanish** (1:45)
Exactly, right? Every conversation with a CIO is AI this, AI that, okay? So AI is the answer. What's the question?

**Paul Delory** (1:55)
Okay, in fairness, CIOs are under a lot of pressure from the business to do AI, and they specifically want it for cost cutting. So they're going to have to deliver on this, even if they themselves are skeptical.

**Autumn Stanish** (2:07)
All right, that part, I agree with. AI is the future, and we have to be ready to support it. Doing nothing is not an option.

**Paul Delory** (2:17)
And that's exactly why we're all here today, because we are the ones who turn those ideas into action.

**Autumn Stanish** (2:24)
Technologies always start off with too much marketing and too much hype before they fall down into what we call the trough of disillusionment. Eventually, we figure out the real benefits and the real limitations, and that technology stabilizes into the plateau of productivity.

**Paul Delory** (2:43)
Right now, AI agents are at the very peak of hype. But, I mean, there's always new hyped up technologies. And as always, we still have to keep the lights on and do our day jobs. None of that goes away just because we're focused on the shiny new thing.

**Autumn Stanish** (2:58)
Yeah, I mean, in my calls, I'm much more likely to be talking about things that are a lot farther along the hype cycle. I mean, I talk about infrastructure automation and DevOps and continuous delivery. Those aren't as hyped, but I bet they're more relevant to your day-to-day operations.

**Paul Delory** (3:19)
Okay, so that means all we have to do is move faster, innovate rapidly, roll out all these new technologies, while cutting costs, reducing headcount, keeping all of our existing infrastructure running, and maintaining security and stability.

**Autumn Stanish** (3:31)
Hey, it's that easy. Not to pile on, but cost-cutting is 52 percent of CIOs number one priority for 2026, and they believe that AI is going to help them do that.

**Paul Delory** (3:47)
The point is, we're the closest to technology. So when these new trends emerge, it's up to us to figure them out and find that value. And right now, we're facing an external pressure. The business wants us to do AI. We have an internal problem. Our infrastructure isn't ready, and our operating models weren't built for this. In fact, 50 percent of I&O leaders say that integrating AI into their current infrastructure is one of their top challenges to AI adoption. So, if we don't change, I&O becomes the bottleneck. And if that happens, the business will find another way, whether that's through shadow IT or outsourcing or decentralization. And so in those cases, we don't just lose control, we lose relevance. And that means no budget, no strategic discussions, no top talent. I&O becomes a cost center for maintaining the past, not building us towards the future.

**Autumn Stanish** (4:44)
We saw all of that happen with Cloud. But that's not going to happen again. We're not going to let that happen again. For 20 years, I&O has been behind the curve. And the pressure comes when the business is pulling us forward and the business says we're holding them back. But what if we were here?
What if we were out in front? What if we built today the thing that we know the business will need tomorrow? I&O can be a value-driving function. We can be proactive partners who enable new initiatives, who make technology easy for business users. But to do that, we need to deliver on three things. One, AI agents. Two, continuous operations. And three, platform-centric I&O.