Gartner’s stock has crashed nearly 50% in the past six months
AI did not erase research’s value; it removed the scapegoat. Gartner’s deeper challenge is a generation of builders acting on conviction, accepting failure, and refusing to outsource accountability.
By Vishnu Rajkumar · Marginalia
note · LinkedIn
Gartner’s stock has crashed nearly 50% in the past six months. Everyone’s quick to blame AI for tearing down paywalls and flooding the market with “free” insights. The only thing that’s truly free is this illusion.
Research still has weight; it’s slow, costly, and rigorous. But it mostly serves those who’d rather rent conviction than own it. The real builders don’t hide behind reports; they move on gut and take the hit if it goes wrong. AI didn’t erase the value of research; it erased the scapegoat. No more pointing to a quadrant to dodge blame. The accountability lands squarely on you. And that’s why consulting still gets paid; because when things blow up, someone has to stand next to you and share the fallout.
Yet the more potent shift isn’t AI; it’s the rise of a generation that doesn’t rely on quadrants or branded frameworks. They rewrite the rules on instinct. They build on conviction, not consensus. Research identifies trends; conviction creates them. The real existential threat to Gartner, McKinsey, Bain? It’s not AI. It’s a new generation of builders who's given themselves permission to fail, and in that audacity lies their power to upend the old guard. Read more on conviction in comment...