Gartner supports CISOs by combining research, expert guidance, tools, and peer insights to help them align security strategy with business goals and adapt to a changing threat landscape. Key ways Gartner helps: 1. **Strategic alignment with the business** Gartner for CISOs is designed to help security leaders reframe their role from purely technical guardians to business partners. It focuses on: - Aligning security strategy with business objectives - Balancing protection with the organization’s need to innovate and move quickly - Helping CISOs communicate risk and value to executives and the board 2. **Actionable research and benchmarks** CISOs get access to: - Proven cybersecurity research across disciplines and industries - Benchmarks and diagnostic tools to measure the maturity of cybersecurity controls - Guidance on top cybersecurity projects for 2026 and what CISOs need to deliver next This helps leaders understand where they stand today and what to prioritize next. 3. **Expert guidance and tools** Gartner provides: - One-on-one guidance from Gartner experts on mission-critical cybersecurity priorities - Practical tools and frameworks to design, deploy, and maintain security tools and services - Leadership vision content for security and risk management 4. **Peer insights and community** Through Gartner Peer Insights and conferences, CISOs can: - Learn from ratings and reviews of tech and security services - Network with peers facing similar challenges - Join events such as IT Security and Risk Management conferences, which bring together thousands of cybersecurity executives (e.g., 4,500 cybersecurity executives meeting in National Harbor in June) 5. **Continuous learning and updates** CISOs can stay current by: - Subscribing to Gartner cybersecurity insights via email for trends, expert analysis, and event updates - Exploring deep-dive content on topics like AI in cybersecurity, benchmarking, and outcome-driven metrics Overall, Gartner helps CISOs move from reactive security operations to a more strategic, business-aligned, and metrics-driven cybersecurity program.

Gartner highlights that effective CISOs are defined less by technical depth alone and more by their ability to lead, influence, and deliver business outcomes through cybersecurity. Several factors differentiate effective CISOs: 1. **Strong relationships beyond IT** Effective CISOs build trusted relationships with non-IT stakeholders, including executives and business leaders. Their influence is understood and respected, which makes it easier to: - Gain support for security initiatives - Embed security into business decision making - Ensure that information risk strategies are actually implemented 2. **Four key outcome areas** Gartner suggests that CISO effectiveness can be assessed by their ability to execute against four outcomes: - **Functional leadership**: Leading the information security function so it consistently meets security objectives. - **Information security service delivery**: Delivering quality security services that not only protect the organization but also support business objectives, recognizing that nearly every business capability is technology-enabled. - **Scaled governance**: As decision making becomes more distributed, CISOs must scale governance to support a larger volume and variety of information risk decisions and increase cooperation with security recommendations. - **Enterprise responsiveness**: Creating a culture where decision makers understand and care about information security and factor it into their choices. CISOs need to champion the importance of information risk and cybersecurity across the enterprise. 3. **Leading through digital transformation** Security leaders, including CIOs and CISOs, are expected to: - Guide the organization through digital transformation - Deliver value throughout that process, not just reduce risk - Manage cross-cutting digital foundations such as development environments, customer experience platforms, analytics, and integration capabilities 4. **Practical behaviors that deliver value** Gartner points to several practical behaviors that help CISOs deliver business value: - Collaborating with executives and non-IT decision makers to define the organization’s risk appetite - Driving ongoing discussions about the evolving digital landscape to stay ahead of potential threats - Ensuring business leaders are aware of current and potential future security risks - Proactively engaging in sourcing, implementing, and scaling emerging technologies - Designing and implementing a strategic succession plan for the security function - Delegating tactical activities to staff or other stakeholders so the CISO can focus on strategic planning In short, the most effective CISOs combine leadership, governance, communication, and strategic thinking to make cybersecurity a shared business responsibility rather than a siloed IT function.

AI is reshaping cybersecurity by introducing new capabilities and new risks at the same time. Gartner’s content and tools are designed to help CISOs navigate this shift in a practical way. 1. **AI as both opportunity and challenge** Gartner notes that the ongoing hype around AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. Organizations see AI as a way to: - Enhance detection and response - Automate routine security tasks - Improve analysis of large volumes of security data At the same time, AI introduces risks and uncertainties, including new attack methods and governance challenges. 2. **Balancing innovation and risk** Gartner focuses on helping CISOs: - Turn AI-driven disruption into cybersecurity opportunity - Balance innovation with risk management - Build a secure, AI-powered future rather than adopting AI in an ad hoc way 3. **AI-focused guidance and use cases** Gartner provides: - AI use cases to help organizations evaluate and prioritize AI initiatives - Insights on how to compete in the growing AI market and win the AI vendor race - Research on how AI can transform security practices without compromising risk posture 4. **AskGartner: AI-powered access to insights** AskGartner is described as an AI-powered tool that gives security and risk leaders: - Access to Gartner’s proprietary insights - Tailored outputs and answers in minutes - Support for faster, more confident decision making on security and risk topics 5. **Continuous learning on AI and security** Through conferences, deep-dive content, and email updates, Gartner helps CISOs: - Stay current on AI-related security trends - Learn from peers and experts about practical AI adoption in cybersecurity - Integrate AI considerations into their broader cybersecurity strategy and roadmap Overall, Gartner’s role is to help CISOs reimagine how AI fits into their cybersecurity strategy, ensuring they capture its benefits while managing the associated risks in a structured, business-aligned way.