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Gartner Expert
Michelle Bazargan
Sr Director Analyst
Michelle Bazargan is a Sr. Director Strategy and Innovation in Gartner's CIO Research group. Ms. Bazargan inspires leaders to re-invent their future business models through sustainable strategies that will keep them competitive in the long-term. She is fueled by the mindset that purpose-driven businesses are particularly well-positioned to tackle the worldâÂÂs biggest problems. She inspires leaders and organizations to see the art of the possible by introducing the latest market trends and business innovations.
She believes collaboration through shared intelligence and diversity of thoughts are what drives creativity and competitive edge. This is accomplished by the combination of ecosystems and product innovation methods, which in my view is what it takes to bring breakthrough ideas to life.
Her continuing dedication to shaping the future of business stems from her diverse leadership and technology background spanning startups and complex enterprise organizations. More importantly, she is a huge advocate for continuous learning and inquisitive curiosity.
Previous experience
Prior to joining Gartner, Ms. Bazargan had a unique and diverse leadership background spanning startups and complex enterprise organizations across numerous industries and sectors including Technology, Wellness, Automotive, Finance and more. She inspires a new way of business thinking to balance putting people first, challenge outdated rules and systems, create resilient and sustainable business models and legacies. Her experience spans executing business innovation, product and marketing strategies in both startups and enterprises by placing focus on the one commonality everyone has - All of our customers, employees and partners are diverse humans. When people feel equal and included, they are empowered to contribute to driving change, creativity and innovation and impact business results and revenue.
Her baseline of struggle and possibilities is different, as she escaped a revolutionary war and came to the U.S. with $500 and unable to speak a word of English. The experience built a foundation of resiliency, reinvention and purpose to help others face fears, adversity and believe in their strengths.
Passion fueled her to create a technology business from the ground up with a successful exit. She is obsessed with inspiring people to keep it real and believe in themselves and speaks at events like Tedx on The Value of Human Connections. What lights her up is contributing to Children's Shark Tanks Innovation programs, running innovation bootcamps for schools and universities, advocating for diversity and STEM and sharing perspective on Forbes Council, Huff Post, Podcasts and other platforms.
Professional background
Oracle
Sr.Director Global Strategy & Product Engineering
Ultimate Software
Product Strategy and Innovation Consultant to Executive Team
JM Family - SE Toyota
Business Strategy and Technology Leadership - R&D,Innovation Labs, Office of CIO
Areas of coverage
Digital Marketing Strategy and Execution
CIO Leadership of Innovation, Disruptive Trends and Emerging Practices
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Executive Leadership: Digital Business
Education
B.S., in Marketing
Founders Institute
Scrum Alliance - Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
Scrum Alliance - Certified Product Owner (CPO)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Various Leadership, Coaching, Consciousness and Psychology Practices and Certifications
Top Issues That I Help Clients Address
1Drive business change through open innovation engines that generate continuous idea and incubation loops
2Shift investments & value from managing commodity lights on activities, to high value new horizon business innovation
3Create strong innovation ecosystems, labs, experiences and partnerships with customers, employees, & partners
4Right time customer marketing and sales engagement strategy leveraging AI, ML and Data Analytics
5Leverage actionable Diversity, Inclusion and Equality beyond pretty marketing and check boxes to drive and enable business innovation