Real-Time Intelligence Beats Published Research Every Time
The real power behind the Gartner Hype Cycle isn’t in the chart -- it’s in the conversations
July 14, 2025 · The AR Playbook: Hype Cycle #1
AR Intelligence Snapshot
Had a fascinating conversation this morning with Matin Cheng, a PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh Business School studying hype cycles and analyst relations.
One of my key points: the real value isn’t in waiting for the next published Gartner Hype Cycle.
Gartner, for example, conducts over 500,000 client inquiries and conference 1-on-1s each year, plus thousands more via sales calls. When ChatGPT exploded in late 2022, analysts were already placing it within the Hype Cycle framework through these real-time conversations -- months before it appeared in the next Hype Cycle update.
The takeaway for AR professionals and tech buyers?
The magic is in the ongoing dialogue, not the static documents. Those daily analyst conversations are where true market intelligence gets synthesized and shared, in real time.
Big thanks to Neil Pollock and Duncan Chapple for the suggestions that Matin speak with me. Always a pleasure to support academic research exploring how our ecosystem really works.
Transform Insight into Action
Static research reports can’t keep up with today’s velocity of change. The decisions you make about analyst engagement and influence strategy — especially how you tap into real-time analyst conversations — will shape your market success in 2025 and beyond.
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Lusher Advisory helps you harness the power of ongoing analyst dialogue to separate hype from actionable insight. We equip all players in the analyst ecosystem to not just survive but thrive by making smarter, faster, and more confident strategic decisions.
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When OpenAI exploded onto the scene in November 2022, the impact on Gartner wasn't quite as you present it. According to the vendor mindshare data published by Gartner (aka inquiry analytics), Gartner analysts fielded fewer than 10 end-user inquiries on OpenAI in Q4 2022 - then 400-plus in Q1 2023 and a peak of 800-plus in Q2 2023.
Analysts may have been fielding inquiries from other vendors, but these inquiries are not included in the analytics data published by Gartner.
The TL;dr - there is often a delay between a technology trigger, like the launch of ChatGPT, and end-user tech buyers actually getting to speak with an analyst about it.