Gartner Analyst

Christopher Blackburn

Sr Director Analyst

Christopher is a Senior Director Analyst covering artificial intelligence and analytics. His research focuses on AI strategy, economics, governance, and related topics in Data Science and Machine learning. He advises data, analytics, and AI leaders on the strategic, economic, and technical decisions involved in developing, governing, and scaling enterprise AI and Machine Learning applications. His background spans economics, data science, and hands-on AI engineering, with expertise in machine learning, knowledge representation, and causal inference.

Previous experience

Prior to joining Gartner, Christopher held leadership and technical roles spanning AI strategy and consulting, data science, machine learning and AI engineering. His work included advising organizations on AI strategy, governance, and operating models; designing and implementing machine learning and generative AI solutions, leading data science and AI product initiatives; and conducting applied economic and quantitative research. He has also taught at the university level and published peer reviewed research.

Areas of coverage
  • AI, Agents and Analytics

  • Enterprise AI Strategy

  • AI Governance

Education

Ph.D. in Economics, Georgia Tech

M.S. in Economics, Georgia Tech

B.B.A. in Economics, Kennesaw State University

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Top Issues That I Help Clients Address

01

AI Strategy, Economics, Operating models

02

AI Governance

03

AI Value Realization

04

AI/ML/DS Algorithm Development and Evaluation

05

AI Agents, Agentic Systems, and Knowledge Representation

Latest research and insights