A week of visualisation and AI: Reflections from the Gartner BI summit
Last week I was at the Gartner data & Analytics summit 2018 at Grapevine, Texas. With over 340 sessions spread across 4 days, this was a huge annual event focusing on the disciplines of data science, data management & data governance.
Having been associated with the Gartner analytics summit in India over the past few years, this event had a similar theme, just that it was much bigger. Its fascinating to see Gartner’s domination of the technology advisory space and the massive $3+ Bn enterprise that it has become today.
Many people have been asking me about the event and what to make of all the talk on crystal-ball gazing. So, here is my take.
1. Taking in the big picture
Gartner does a great job of presenting the big picture and calling the trends (mostly) right. Given their unique, unqualified access to buyers & sellers, they are ever close to the ecosystem and have a tab on the market pulse.
Net-net, one can expect a good summary of the state of market and bird’s eye view on where the industry is heading over the next 2 to 3 years. The packaging of trends into neat frameworks and hype cycles with refined messaging is certainly the topmost takeaway.
2. Connecting with Analytics users
Given their massive reach, most serious analytics buyers are usually in attendance to the Gartner events, from across industries.
Thus, the event offers a good opportunity to network with (potential) clients and understand their needs & challenges first-hand. The event has been carefully structured to facilitate networking and open conversations, as well.
3. Making sense of the competition
If the potential analytics buyers are in attendance, the vendors can’t be far behind. Yes, there is massive presence of every aspiring player, from product organisations to service firms.
The exhibits are a major draw with over 100 companies setting shop and hawking their wares. One gets a very good sense of the players, competitive offerings & their market positioning.
4. Listening to quality guest speakers
Apart from the Gartner analyst knowledge sessions, there is an eclectic bunch of guest key-note speakers who added considerable value.
From the CTO of BAMTECH media who presented some swashbuckling sports analytics, to Daniel Pink the best-selling author of ‘Drive’ with his excerpts on right-timing, to the Director of Microsoft Research labs who presented some uber cool AI stuff still under-development, these were noteworthy.
5. And then, some shortcomings
While there is definitive value in the big picture view, at times it gets a bit limiting when one doesn’t see sufficient depth or detailing for actionable steps, on-the-ground. I’ve heard from people who feel that the insights, at times, come up short on planning implementations.
One other minor grouse was the relative low coverage of AI and the broad-brushing of all-and-sundry automation technologies under the label of AI. Inspite of the marketing blitz around AI, it is still early days, but it would have helped to tailor the messaging in this area.
Overall, it was a very well organised conference with top-notch scheduling, and logistics. The Gartner Event navigator was an indispensable mobile app to stay on top of the happenings and help manage the event experience.
An event like this fits well into the defined category of ‘Deep Immersion’, something that provides a deep experience of learning in a chosen field, helps to stretch the mind and further the virtuous cycle of learning in the wheel of modern education.
