Gartner Expert

Grant Faulkner Nelson

VP, Team Manager

With accelerating frequency, CFOs, FP&A leaders and finance analytics leaders consult with Grant Nelson to gain perspective on data and analytics strategy, data science in finance, analytics organizational design, data governance, enabling self-service analytics, data literacy and driver mapping. As finance functions consider solutions to gain more insight and efficiency from more digitally driven models, Mr. Nelson's extensive experience and background in analytics, strategy, planning and reporting enrich his clients understanding of pragmatic art-of-the possible solutions to help create world-class, lasting results.

Since joining the company in 2019, Mr. Nelson has become well-known for his ability to flex with clients demands while respectfully and constructively challenging predispositions with actionable alternatives. And, his down-to-earth approach has made him highly sought after by many within both the finance and analytics functions.

In his 22-year career prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Nelson served as finance and data & analytics practitioner leading strategic planning, coordinating investments and operational planning, developing analytical centers of excellence, directing BI platforms, and overseeing data governance. He earned his MBA from Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business and his B.S. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in International Affairs. As a family man and former rugby player, Mr. Nelson enjoys staying active and, after hours, is often found coaching his girls' sports teams.

Previous experience

Founded a hybrid analytical center of excellence (COE)

Executive sponsor of Data Governance

Directed the customer relationship management (CRM) Platform development & management

Directed the Integration Management Office

Spearheaded Periodic Planning and Budgeting

Drove strategic plan implementation & measurement

Assessed competitive and market values, strategies, threats and opportunities.

Professional background

Genuine Parts Company (d.b.a., NAPA Auto Parts)

Vice President, Strategic Financial Analytics

Areas of coverage

Finance Data and Analytics

Finance Organization Transformation

Executive Leadership: Data and Analytics

Education

M.B.A.; Marketing; Georgia State University (Robinson College of Business)

B.S.; International Affairs; University of Colorado, Boulder

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Top Issues That I Help Clients Address

1Finance D&A Strategy: D&A Strategy, Analytics COEs, Data Literacy, Data Democratization

2Finance Metrics, Insights & Storytelling: Metrics/KPIs, Drivers & Driver Mapping (Metrics Cascade), Dashboards & Visualization, Storytelling

3Finance D&A Governance, MDM and Data Integration: Sufficient Truth, Single Source of Truth, Single Version of Truth, Adaptive Governance, Data Models (WH, Lake, Hub), Data Lineage, Graph/Fabric, Stewa

4Financial Analysis & Reporting: Variance Reporting, A&BI Reporting, Management Reporting

5Advanced Analytics, Data Science & AI: Use cases, Predictive/Prescriptive/Augmented/Autonomous Analytics, COEs, Data Science Management