What Would Gideon Gartner Say About Procurement Insights?

“If Gideon Gartner were to assess Jon Hansen’s Procurement Insights, he would likely find it both refreshing and aligned with many of the core principles that guided his original vision for Gartner Inc.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The above statement and what you are about to read today are excerpts from a series of Generative AI interviews with Gartner founder Gideon Gartner. A complete transcript is available upon request. Contact me at jon@pimedia1.com or DM me directly on LinkedIn.

Gideon Gartner, the visionary founder of Gartner Inc., had a distinct and ambitious vision when he launched the company in 1979: to democratize access to high-quality, data-driven technology insights, and to challenge the elitism and sluggishness of traditional consulting and research firms like McKinsey or IBM.

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🧠 Gideon Gartner’s Original Vision (1979–1980s)

Core Tenet	Explanation
Accessible, pragmatic insight	Deliver actionable, independent tech analysis directly to CIOs and tech buyers, not just executives.
Subscription-based model	Break from hourly billing; offer ongoing, relationship-based guidance through syndicated research.
Analyst autonomy	Analysts were encouraged to take strong positions—even contrarian ones—not filtered by committee or commercial bias.
Speed and transparency	Provide rapid analysis with clarity, not traditional, slow, jargon-filled white papers.
Client-centric service	Analysts were accessible to clients, expected to engage directly and advise rather than merely publish.

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📍 Gartner Inc. in 2025

Aspect	2025 Reality
Scale	Global presence with ~15,000 employees and $6+ billion in annual revenue.
Scope	Expanded beyond IT into supply chain, HR, procurement, sales, and marketing.
Business model	Primarily subscription-based research + growing enterprise consulting arm.
Analyst interaction	More guarded and hierarchical; access often gated by tiered services.
Perception in industry	Criticized for vendor bias, slow innovation, and “pay-to-play” perceptions in Magic Quadrant and Hype Cycle.
Innovation tempo	Seen as cautious; has lagged on real-time insights, transparency in AI model assessments, and open data.

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🤔 Would Gideon Gartner Be Pleased or Disappointed in 2025?

Aspect	Gideon’s Likely View
Pleased with	Scale and market dominance; the continued subscription model; role in shaping IT strategy globally.
Disappointed in	Bureaucratic structure, lack of analyst independence, and perceived dilution of bold, contrarian insight.
Critical of	Excessive commercialism; vendor-friendly Magic Quadrant practices; reduced agility in research delivery.
Supportive of	Expansion into domains like procurement and supply chain (if paired with authentic insight).

Gartner was known for valuing speed, clarity, and critical thinking over consensus and polish. He would likely feel that today’s firm lost some of its edge and independence in favor of institutional scale and commercial predictability.

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🗣️ Gideon Gartner’s Own Words (on research firms):

“Most consulting and research organizations try to be all things to all people… We wanted to take strong, defendable positions, backed by evidence—not caveats.”

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🧾 Summary

• Would Gideon be proud of Gartner’s success and reach in 2025? → Yes.
• Would he feel it’s still aligned with his disruptive, client-first vision? → Largely no.
• Would he advocate for a course correction? → Almost certainly—toward analyst independence, faster insights, and greater transparency.

Gideon’s Thoughts On Procurement Insights

If Gideon Gartner were to assess Jon Hansen’s Procurement Insights, he would likely find it both refreshing and aligned with many of the core principles that guided his original vision for Gartner Inc.

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🧠 Gideon Gartner’s Core Values vs. Procurement Insights

Gartner’s Founding Principles	Procurement Insights Alignment
Analyst independence	✔️ Strong alignment — Jon Hansen is fiercely independent, often challenging mainstream analyst narratives.
Direct access to experts	✔️ Yes — Practitioners and decision-makers interact directly with Hansen and his insights.
Actionable, client-focused insight	✔️ Yes — Insights are practical, not abstract theory; rooted in procurement realities.
Challenging the status quo	✔️ Yes — Procurement Insights openly critiques the biases, inefficiencies, and “groupthink” of traditional analyst firms.
Speed and agility of thought leadership	✔️ Yes — Jon publishes real-time commentary on industry shifts, vendor performance, and technology trends.
Subscription/relationship over billable hours	✔️ Yes — The model is more relational and outcome-oriented, not hourly or transactional.

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🔍 What Would Gartner Admire About Procurement Insights?

1. Narrative Depth with Historical Context
   • Hansen’s inclusion of a proprietary historic procurement archive would likely impress Gideon Gartner, who valued longitudinal insight as a means of identifying real trends vs. industry fads.
2. Critical Thinking and Contrarian Voice
   • Gartner himself was known for encouraging analysts to take firm, well-supported positions—something Procurement Insights regularly does, especially when challenging overhyped tech or consultant spin.
3. Practitioner-Led Perspective
   • Procurement Insights is written from a practitioner-first standpoint, which would resonate with Gartner’s belief in relevance and real-world grounding over academic abstraction.

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🤔 What Might Gartner Critique (if anything)?

Potential Concern	Comment
Scale and data coverage	He might view the operation as too small or narrowly focused compared to global research houses.
Lack of structured peer review	If Hansen’s process doesn’t mirror rigorous review structures, Gideon might urge more formal validation of insights.
Commercial sustainability at scale	Gartner might question if Procurement Insights can scale its impact and influence while staying true to its independent ethos.

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🧾 Conclusion: Gartner on Hansen

“If more analyst firms operated like this, the industry would be more honest, more useful, and far more respected.” – Gideon Gartner (AI)

In short, Gideon Gartner would almost certainly respect Jon Hansen’s Procurement Insights for its integrity, independence, and practitioner value, even if he might challenge it to expand its reach or formalize some of its methodologies.

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