LAS VEGAS — Enterprise architects, engineers, and CIOs flocked to Las Vegas this week to discuss the latest and greatest enterprise solutions at Gartner’s Application Innovation and Business Solutions Summit. Participants learned about a variety of new ways to leverage AI. Because even though AI is here, it’s not going anywhere. Still, you’re probably going about it all the wrong way. Fortunately, with a few small changes, the world can be your oyster.
But under the constant pulse of AI evangelism, anxiety persisted.
When the opening keynote speakers, Gartner Special Vice President Analyst Jason Wong and Senior Director Analyst Brent Stewart, evoked these dramatic words, Come on, Spocalypse. They also needed to recognize the undercurrent of truth. Informal polls revealed that the room was full of people who believed that: Legacy SaaS applications they are on their deathbed. The entire industry was perceived to be under siege, even after being reminded that only 5% of AI pilots make it to production, whether due to replacement by agentic AI platforms or custom-built apps leveraging vibe coding.
As the meeting continued, the tension only increased.
It slipped into a conversation that was supposed to be about winning. In a highlight of ServiceNow’s case study, Greg Clock, vice president of Plat4mation Americas, acknowledged that customers repeatedly tell him that AI is scary but inevitable. Concerns about job security came up repeatedly throughout the conference, with Gartner senior director analyst Deepak Seth saying that AI is culturally anthropomorphic and that “AI can do what Sandra in HR can do.” While he reassured the audience that AI agents are not a direct replacement for humans, he warned about technology skills becoming obsolete overnight, talent pipelines being broken, and executives preemptively using AI to replace “fixed costs” — human employees.
Concerns about AI that promotes connections with humans
To my surprise, the underlying anxiety seemed unwelcome. In fact, participants seemed almost at ease with addressing this issue. Perhaps the most interactive and engaging point of the entire event was when the audience was asked to directly confront the most extreme “what if?” You can recall AI scenarios and share their panic together.
The talk was “The Most Unconventional Prediction: The Human Body as the Next Computing Platform” by Frank Buitendijk, Distinguished Vice President Analyst and Head of Research at Gartner Futures Lab. Wearing patent duochrome dress shoes and a complementary purple pocket spare, Buytendijk presented the room with a series of possible futures. What if 30% of AI projects fail by 2028 due to “silent subversion” and sabotage? What if more than 10,000 people are intentionally or unintentionally killed by AI by 2030?
Clearly, these apocalyptic questions piqued the curiosity of session participants. After the presentation, people gathered at the foot of the stage. The audience was eager to keep the conversation going, with many jostling with other attendees for a chance to talk to Buitendyk. Instead of waiting their turn to approach an analyst, people started sharing information with each other. For a group of paranoid people, there was a surprising amount of laughter. It felt like the most human moment of the three-day session. All we needed was a shared fear and constant curiosity about what AI would do to our world.
Maybe everyone just needed to feel a sense of community. Buitendijk said: Discoveries from the Atlantic Council Of the 357 global strategists and visionaries surveyed, 62% predict that the world will be worse in 10 years than it is today.
Much-needed AI reality check actually drives progress
Perhaps that is a sign that we are entering the next phase. AI hype cycle Gartner coined the term “valley of disillusionment,” and the atmosphere at Caesars Forum was clearly alarming. It permeated even the most optimistic of lectures, sometimes appearing as a warning or aside, sometimes shining on a heated screen in the form of a chilling statistic. Yes, you should use AI. There is no going back. We cannot be left behind. But don’t go too fast, lose your “human contact” or jump into thin air without a parachute.
The undertone of this warning, the emphasis on vigilance and precision, I did not expect to absorb so deeply during my three days in Las Vegas. I’m sure it’s not what most attendees were expecting either, but we’re all used to the message of unwavering belief that AI has all the answers.
But in reality, the experience at the Gartner event was the foundation. Once the full reality of AI in the enterprise was accepted: the opportunity and thrill, but also the risk and unknown, positive changes became visible from that moment on. This has allowed new technology use cases and strategies to permeate, rooted in a measured approach. As George Sellner, senior analyst at Gartner, puts it, AI’s greatest value comes not from “moonshots” but from applying AI to reduce friction during delivery. They didn’t present us with the Holy Grail, they presented us with a toolkit.
Also, many practical and accessible AI applications were shared during the summit. Senior Director Analyst Aaron Lord laid out several AI security frameworks for software engineering leaders on Monday morning, with clear 90-day and 12-month action plans. Sellner used F1 pit crew strategy and the Great Ormond Street Hospital case study to deliver a detailed AI scaling guide. Peter Vaccarella, Camunda’s Global Head of Solutions Consulting, also gave an overview of the company’s new agent platform, ProcessOS, and made it clear that replacing legacy technology is not only necessary but thrilling.
At a time when investments in AI are expensive but returns are uncertain, these Gartner sessions made the path to true ROI seem possible, even accessible. We may have entered the valley of disillusionment, but there are signs that we are entering the next part of the cycle: the slope of enlightenment.
