The IIAR> Institute of Influencer & Analyst Relations / Around Anthony Mullen from Gartner in 10 questions

Today we ask our probing questions of Anthony Mullen from Gartner (@gartner, see related posts). Anthony ( LinkedIn, @ant_mull) recently joined Gartner and was previously with Forrester. Last year while working in a data science consultancy, Anthony conceived of and ran a piece of R&D work that developed the worlds first rich segmentation using wearable data. The work went on to develop propensity to buy predictions related to heart rate as well as dissecting what made for a good nights sleep.

What are your coverage areas?
I have two main streams that I’m working on. The first is macro trends and forecasting in the personal technologies space. The second is more horizontal research which covers topics like analytics, AI, IoT and the connected home. From a role point of view I often write for customer experience professionals, strategic planners and innovation teams.

What are your opinions of the IT Analysis Marketplace and where do you see it going?
Ultimately I see analyst firms having a stronger mix of skills drawn from the cognitive sciences domain. From anthropologists and psychologists to linguistics experts, neuroscientists and AI specialists. Without this mix it’s going to get too difficult to interpret data and study behavior. I think this is not just true for analyst firms but for all firms.
What’s your typical day like?
Drop the kids off to nursery and maybe squeeze a run in with my wife. Avoid email for a few hours and create something whether it’s a report outline, framework or graphic. Morning energy is all about creating. When the US wakes up in the afternoon then the video calls start which can cover quite a wide range of topics from client inquiry, briefings, forecasting planning to research topic exploration.
Now, c’mon, tell me an AR horror story?
No specific story other than the regular occurrence of vendors desperate to present a deck to you and having to be increasingly firmer about the questions you need answered. I always enjoy it when an AR rep messages the vendor during their screen share to stop talking about something and it comes up on the screen.
How do you position your firm? What is your business model?
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. The company delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to clients in approximately 10,000 distinct enterprises worldwide. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 7,100 associates, including more than 1,500 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 90 countries.
What is your research methodology?
Somewhere between free form jazz improvisation and colouring by numbers – I tend to go big and then work in. Lots of web research, quizzing vendors and exploring with domain experts.
Tell us about one good AR practice you’ve experienced or one good AR event you’ve attended.
When an AR firm actually knows about my research and can shoot the breeze around a few topics then it creates a much stronger connection.
Any hobbies or favourite restaurant / food that you’d like to share?
Main hobbies are music – mostly writing rather than performing these days. I’ve been lucky enough to make records all over the world with musicians from India, Greece and Egypt to Argentina.
What is your biggest challenges for the upcoming 6 months? And for the next 30 mn?
An overarching framework for forecasting and a grammar for mega, macro and microtrends.
Is there another analyst whose work you rate highly?Does anyone ever pick a single analyst here?! There are lots of great analysts around especially in Gartner. I get different things from each of them and enjoy sparring with the future gazers, macroeconomic experts, hardcore IT architecture boffins, vertical specialists as well as the young bucks.