Gartner (IT) 2026 Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference summary

Business overview and value proposition

• Insights business generates nearly 90% of gross profit, targeting C-level executives across all major enterprise functions with recurring annual subscriptions.

• Three service tiers: digital-only ($25K/user/year), advisor ($45K–$50K/user/year, includes conference access and unlimited expert inquiries), and guided service ($100K/user/year, includes premium conference experience and executive partner support).

• Proactive delivery of insights tailored to client priorities, leveraging a staff of 2,400 domain experts and a network effect from a broad client base.

• Engagement is driven by proactive content delivery, with digital and human interactions both emphasized.

Financial performance and growth drivers

• Contract Value (CV) has shown strong long-term growth (12% 10-year CAGR), but recent years saw slower growth due to macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds.

• U.S. federal government business, once 5% of CV, faced significant headwinds, impacting overall growth by nearly 300 basis points in 2025; stabilization and recovery expected in 2026.

• Trade policy volatility affected 40% of CV, especially clients dependent on global supply chains; recent quarters show increased stability.

• Expectation for CV acceleration in 2026 as headwinds are lapped and business adapts.

Impact of AI and digital innovation

• No evidence that AI is disrupting business or client engagement; engagement metrics and conference attendance remain strong.

• AskGartner, an LLM-powered digital overlay, enhances user experience and increases engagement, but proactive content delivery remains the primary engagement driver.

• Future integration of client data with proprietary insights is being considered, but IP protection is a priority.