Technology conferences give tech chiefs a chance to benchmark against their peers, whether that’s comparing capabilities or boasting about the latest modernization efforts. But as CIOs and other technology decision-makers traverse conference halls and venues, they also get an opportunity to take stock of what’s next — and how to get there.
IT leaders headed to trade show venues across the country can expect sessions and panels that touch on key themes, including tech talent attraction, cloud cost management, IT automation and the ever-evolving AI tech stack.
In 2024, executives spent countless resources to bring generative AI pilots into wider deployments, spur innovation across their companies and modernize critical software platforms. As leaders tackle 2025 priorities, businesses want to ensure their IT estates are flexible enough to support anything the future can bring, which makes keeping up with trends a top priority.
Ahead of 2025, CIO Dive has compiled a list of technology conferences worth attending for CIOs and other IT leaders. Though most technology events listed here are vendor-agnostic, we’ve also included flagship conferences organized by the top three cloud providers given their outsized influence on enterprise IT. For security-minded technologists, check out Cybersecurity Dive’s 2025 conference list.
Top CIO conferences in 2025
Google Cloud Next
April 9-11
Las Vegas
The third-largest hyperscaler will showcase its latest cloud and enterprise productivity software products, services, partnerships and wins. The event typically features keynotes by company executives, product demos and major Google Cloud and Workspace announcements.
Red Hat Summit
May 19-22
Boston
The open-source software provider and IBM subsidiary Red Hat brings together customers, partners, tech industry leaders and members of the open-source community for four days of announcements and demos on Linux, hybrid cloud, automation, container and Kubernetes technologies. The AnsibleFest conference, which focuses on Red Hat’s Ansible hybrid cloud automation platform, is part of the event.
MIT Sloan CIO Symposium
May 20
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Academic leaders, digital technology executives and industry experts will arrive at the MIT Sloan School of Management to discuss top trends in enterprise IT management. Past editions have included C-suite executives from top corporations including Kimberly-Clark, Home Depot, PepsiCo and more.
American CIO & Cybersecurity Summit
June 2-3
San Francisco
The yearly conference convenes technology executives across cybersecurity and IT leaders from multiple sectors, including automotive, pharma, retail, aerospace and more.
AI & Big Data Expo North America
June 4-5
Santa Clara, California
The two-day event will focus on several key topics, including responsible AI, building trust and data modernization. Around 7,000 people will attend the conference, with 63% of those holding a director level or above position.
Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo
Oct. 20-23
Orlando, Florida
Analyst firm Gartner brings together global technology leaders for its flagship conference, presenting overarching themes for CIOs. The firm releases yearly data and reports during the symposium reflecting executive sentiment and key priorities, including digital transformation and emerging technologies.
Microsoft Ignite
TBD
TBD
The annual conference will host sessions, labs and demos as part of the multi-day experience. The focus is for customers, partners and tech pros to learn more about Microsoft’s technology and its integration of AI.
Grace Hopper Celebration
Nov. 4-8
Chicago
Founded in 1994, this tech conference for women and nonbinary people bears the name of pioneering computer scientist Grace Hopper. The event offers technical, career and culture sessions for technologists of all experience levels.
Forrester Technology & Innovation North America
Nov. 3-6
Austin, Texas
Forrester’s yearly conference for technology executives will offer tactical advice on how to align tech and business priorities while adapting to shifts in a dynamic climate.
Info-Tech LIVE
TBD
Las Vegas
Analyst firm Info-Tech Research Group convenes technology leaders each year to share actionable tools and knowledge for over 2,000 IT executives. In 2025, the event will once again take place in Las Vegas.
The AI Summit
Dec. 11-12
New York
In its ninth year, The AI Summit New York plans to move theoretical discussions around AI toward practical applications of the technology. More than 4,000 attendees will hear from speakers from Walmart, JPMorgan and AstraZeneca.
AWS re:Invent
TBD
TBD
Amazon’s cloud division ends the year with one of its biggest cloud conferences. The re:Invent event brings together cloud practitioners, AWS ecosystem partners and AWS leaders for several days of new product announcements, talks, workshops and, of course, networking.
FinOps X
San Diego
TBD
The FinOps Foundation’s annual U.S. conference brings together cloud cost management practitioners, executives and solution vendors to explore the latest advances in FinOps tooling and processes. Updates on the organization’s ongoing efforts to implement a unified framework for cloud billing data are also part of the event.
Disclosure: The AI Summit and CIO Dive are owned by Informa. The event has no influence over CIO Dive’s coverage.
