
Gartner ThinkCast
Gartner ThinkCast puts you at the intersection of business and technology with insights from the top experts on how to build a more successful organization, team and career in the Digital Era. Join us every other Tuesday to get your competitive advantage. View all Gartner ThinkCast episodes at https://www.gartner.com/en/podcasts/thinkcast
Latest episodes

Sep 6, 2022 • 20min
9 Ways to Play Offense into the Recession
The 2008-2009 recession brought several key learnings to light for businesses long after they entered recovery. First among those lessons: Executive leaders who took bold, decisive action at the very start of economic contraction saw the greatest gains against their competitors post-recession. While many business and financial leaders looked forward to relief from burnout and a return to normalcy coming out of the pandemic, instead they now face new stresses: recession risks, talent shortages, and increasing pressure to tighten spending. In this episode — originally aired by our sister show, “CFOs’ Autonomous Future, The Gartner Finance Podcast” — Alexander Bant, Gartner’s chief of research for CFOs, dives deeper into the data, key lessons and takeaways from organizations that successfully navigated the 2008-2009 recession, and details nine key actions financial leaders can take today to continue to drive agility and digital transformation, and successfully navigate the next 12 to 24 months. Dig Deeper Download: 9 Actions for Winning Through a Recession: A 2022–2023 Playbook https://gtnr.it/3Q9UNmj Subscribe: CFOs’ Autonomous Future, The Gartner Finance Podcast https://gtnr.it/3AITfKl

Aug 23, 2022 • 38min
Where Social Media Strategies Fall Short
Since 2020, the pandemic, social justice movements and other significant global events have hastened the evolution of consumer or audience expectations — and criticisms — of social media. Consumers no longer scroll passively through channel feeds, and brands can no longer consider social solely a distribution channel for content. Businesses and organizations that engage in social media without an up-to-date audience- or community-specific strategy risk diminishing channel impact and ROI, and losing customers. In this episode, originally broadcast on #Hashtags: The Gartner Marketing & Communications Podcast, Dorian Cundick, a vice president with the Gartner for Marketers Advisory Team, and Amber Gallihar Boyes, a director analyst who works with CMOs and heads of communication, discuss the unique expectations for distinct social channels, why and how audience expectations tend to shift, and the organizations that achieved successful engagement, thanks to highly intentional approaches to community building and audience activation. Dig Deeper: Download: Digital IQ: Social Marketing Benchmarks https://gtnr.it/3QueTbS Subscribe: #Hashtags: The Gartner Marketing & Communications Podcast https://gtnr.it/3Ptymbp

Aug 9, 2022 • 22min
The Biggest Lessons and Insights from Gartner’s Supply Chain Top 25
Maintaining current margins in profitability while also achieving targets for sustainability, speed and innovation, often mean the difference between success and lackluster performance. Supply chain leaders are increasingly required to make faster, more accurate decisions, in real time. Environmental, social and governance issues round out the many focal areas competing for leading CSCOs’ attention. What sets the world’s leading supply chain organizations apart from their competitors? In this episode, originally broadcast on The Gartner Supply Chain Podcast, Mike Griswold, a Research VP on Gartner’s Consumer Value Chain team, and Caroline Chumakov, a Senior Principal Analyst on the Talent and Sustainability team, break down the four macro trends informing supply chain evolution, the rise of the “chief ecosystems officer” and key insights and takeaways for businesses of every size. Dig Deeper: Download: The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2022 https://gtnr.it/3QbHFNR Subscribe: The Gartner Supply Chain Podcast https://bit.ly/3cZEhrg

Jul 12, 2022 • 19min
Inflation! Looming Recession! Businesses Need a Plan.
Sixty-three percent of CFOs believe this inflationary period will last at least 12 months, according to Gartner research, which means the financial and economic reality businesses face isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And on the horizon is a possible recession — something that business leaders find themselves preparing for, or should if they’re not already. In this episode, Alexander Bant, Chief of Research for CFOs at Gartner, and Brian Kropp, a Distinguished Vice President of Research who oversees the research, tools, services and support that Gartner provides to HR leaders, discuss how organizations can not only weather these current macro forces, but also harness opportunities to drive profitable and efficient growth. Dig Deeper Download: Evolve Culture & Leadership for the Hybrid Workplace https://gtnr.it/3OUS2W3 Watch: Gartner Panel: Top Inflation Concerns for 2022 and Beyond https://gtnr.it/3yPZYlQ Watch: The CFO’s Playbook for Enhancing Profitability & Driving Digital Acceleration https://gtnr.it/3Iq31V7

Jun 28, 2022 • 21min
Is Your Enterprise Value Model Broken?
You’ve likely heard the phrase “enterprise value model,” but how many of us know exactly what it means — and how to use it to our organization’s advantage? Especially in today’s business environment, which is full of conflicting variables, discontinuity and disruption, we’ve discovered that traditional return-on-investment models fail to properly account for non-financial variables that are critical to value creation. In this episode, Rita Sallam, a Distinguished VP Analyst and Gartner Fellow on the Data and Analytics team, and Donna Scott, a Distinguished VP Analyst in Gartner's Office of the CIO Research, join us to break down a new enterprise value equation that offers leaders a fresh way to view the decisions they make in terms of the impact those decisions deliver to various stakeholders and the value the organization realizes in return — not just in the here and now, but also so far as the long-term health of the business. Dig Deeper Download: 9 Rules for Demonstrating the Business Value of IT https://gtnr.it/3QESuZR Download: 3 Strategic Actions for Success for Executives https://gtnr.it/3HdILnG Read: Is Your Enterprise Value Model Undermining Your Ambitions? https://gtnr.it/3tOwP7G

Jun 14, 2022 • 16min
What Happens When Your Customer Stops Being Human
Explore the rise of machine customers and how it will impact businesses across different departments. Discover the shift towards customer-centricity and the role of marketers. Learn about the transition from human to machine customers, including strategies like interactive voice responses and chat bots.

May 31, 2022 • 18min
How to Link Data to Business Outcomes
Every business likes to claim that it is “data-driven” or at least “data-informed,” but too often, that’s not the way things actually work. Data is relegated to an IT function, siloed and, in some cases, boils down to simply producing more reports and dashboards. There is, however, a better way, and it relies on successfully linking data to business outcomes. In this episode, Andrew White, a Distinguished VP Analyst for Data and Analytics, and Sarah Turkaly, a Principal, Advisory for Data and Analytics, outline how you can use the Gartner Value Pyramid to break down silos, reengineer key decisions and align data with leadership’s mission critical priorities. Dig Deeper Learn More: Gartner Data & Analytics Summit https://gtnr.it/3GltFgW Download: Gartner’s Essential Guides for Effective Decision Making https://gtnr.it/3yWDRdZ Watch: Link Data to Business Outcomes https://gtnr.it/3yWDRdZ

May 17, 2022 • 22min
Sustainability Is a Growing Focus for Execs. Here’s What That Means for You.
This year’s Gartner’s CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey reveals that environmental sustainability has become a top-10 business priority for the first time ever with more than triple the CEOs citing it than just one year prior. Meanwhile, social responsibility and ESG emerged as the second-largest contributor to CEO focus on corporate issues, increasing 50% year over year. Here to analyze why sustainability has come to the forefront, how business leaders can advance their sustainability strategies and common pitfalls to avoid are Kristin Moyer, a Distinguished VP Analyst in Gartner's Executive Leadership of Digital Business Growth Strategies practice, and Sarah Watt, a Research Vice President on the Talent and Sustainability team. Dig Deeper Explore: Sustainable Business Strategy for a Positive Social and Environmental Impact https://gtnr.it/3N7XovQ Watch: Progress from Strategy to Action on Sustainability https://gtnr.it/3w34dcB Watch: Sustainable Agriculture: A View From Bayer’s Supply Chain https://gtnr.it/38m5faz

May 3, 2022 • 24min
The Secret to More Creative, Innovative Leadership
Especially if you work at a large, traditional organization, it’s important to find ways to think more creatively — and drive the actions that come out of these new ways of looking ahead. Your — and your company’s — success depends on it. And that’s where a new approach we call “rogue thinking” comes in. Here to discuss the newest research on the practice, how to become a rogue thinker, and the many benefits behind it are Penny Gillespie, a Vice President and Gartner Fellow in our Customer Experience and Digital Commerce team, and Whit Andrews, a Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in our Applications and Software Engineering Group. Press play to learn from innovative organizations, understand where others get tripped up and discover seven daily actions to become a rogue thinker. Dig Deeper Download: 3 Strategic Actions for Successful Leadership https://gtnr.it/3HdILnG Download: New Ways to Organize for Collaboration and Speed https://gtnr.it/3EPntgx

Apr 19, 2022 • 21min
Organizational Culture and Connectedness is in Crisis
Our new research shows that just one in four employees feel connected to their organization’s culture. Yet, employees who feel this way experience a 36% boost in performance and retention. You’ve likely heard plenty of conversation about what the workforce now expects from their employers, especially when it comes to culture — and this is exactly why. Here to discuss their research and insights into organizational culture are Alexia Cambon, a Research Director in Gartner’s HR research practice, and Mark Whittle, a Vice President of Research & Advisory, who also works within our HR practice. Listen as they explore changes in how we experience culture and connectedness, how progressive organizations can do a better job fostering these things and what’s on the horizon. Dig Deeper Explore: The Future of Work Reinvented https://gtnr.it/36S6aOJ Download: Redesigning Work for a Hybrid Future https://gtnr.it/3rpJxsG Learn More: Gartner ReimagineHR Conference: The Premier Conference for CHROs and Their Teams https://gtnr.it/3uIaUzS