Meet the Experts

Dennis Gannon | VP, Advisory

Senior finance executives come to Dennis Gannon on a daily basis for his perspective on how best to maximize their returns on reinvesting in their businesses and when to return capital to shareholders. In an era of uncertain growth opportunities and intense global competition, finance leaders rely on Mr. Gannon's expertise to help create world-class budgeting, forecasting, and decision support processes within their organizations. Since joining the company in 2004, Mr. Gannon has become well-known for his keen ability to connect the dots between finance functions and bring a long-term perspective to member challenges. This has made him highly sought after by CFOs, Treasurers and other finance leaders. Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Gannon consulted professional sports franchises on customer retention strategies. He earned an MBA with honors in Finance and Sports Business from the University of Oregon, and also holds an M.A. in Philosophy of Science and a B.S. in Mathematics from Virginia Tech. Mr. Gannon is based in Portland, Oregon. He is an outdoors enthusiast and you can find him most weekends hiking along the Oregon Coast, or playing his guitar during the many rainy days of the year.

Vernice "FlyGirl" Armour

Known simply as “FlyGirl”, Ms. Armour ignites her audiences with a dynamic spark that can’t be extinguished. From the moment she leaps into the audience, she shows attendees how to go from “Zero to Breakthrough” and create a personal flight plan utilizing her candid strategies to help win on the battlefield of life! Leveraging her “Breakthrough Mentality” mindset, she propelled herself from beat cop to combat pilot in a record-breaking three years and became the United States Marine Corps’ first African-American female pilot and, shortly after, she was recognized as America’s First African-American Female Combat Pilot by the Department of Defense. Upon completion of two tours in Iraq and leaving the military, Ms. Armour launched VAI Consulting and Training, LLC. As featured on Oprah Winfrey, CNN, Tavis Smiley, NPR and others, Vernice Armour’s fresh style and presentation methods have inspired hundreds of organizations and individuals with an understanding of the passion and leadership required to excel.

Bruce Robertson | Research Vice President and Distinguished Analyst

Bruce Robertson is a Research Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in Gartner’s CIO Research group, wherein his general research covers CIO perspectives on changing people’s mindset and behavior in IT and across the business. More specifically, Mr. Robertson focuses on emerging innovative methods and best practices including the change leadership tactics and capabilities that inspire and engage people on any needed transformational change journey. With these, CIOs can lead digital business transformation and build a culture ready for anything. Furthermore, his emerging research agenda seeks to clarify how an increasingly agile IT must mesh with digital design business practices including design thinking and lean startup, and this is an increasingly common target for digital business transformation efforts. His expertise areas include digital design, process thinking, change leadership, high-performance teams and culture dynamics, the people and process side of digital business transformation. Mr. Robertson has more than 25 years of experience in end-user IT areas, including process, architecture and infrastructure planning and research functions. He joined Gartner in April 2005 with the acquisition of Meta Group. Before joining Meta Group in 1995, he was Senior Technology Editor at Network Computing magazine, a Technology Consulting Firm Director and an IT Manager.

Graham Waller | Research Vice President

This might sound like hyberbole, but it is not. Determining your CIO leadership persona is a critical first step toward determining how you motivate your team, guide the business on IT and achieve your goals. Gartner Research Vice President Graham Waller breaks down the six major CIO personas, how you can recognize yours, and why that is so important to know.

Gartner ThinkCast

Hosted by: Karen Lockhart

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 to get your competitive advantage.

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