How Selector AI got Gartner to think like Selector AI
Initially, analysts had Selector under AIOps, which was the wrong category. Three years later, Selector is a key voice in a category Gartner created.
IntelligenceSelector became a key voice in Gartner's creation of a new category.
Client
A large prospect contacted one of our clients and, in so many words, said: Gartner sent me.
That's the moment you're working toward. A prospect walks in the door because an analyst they trust pointed them your way.
Getting there takes years. You spend them educating a very small number of analysts to see your corner of the market the way you see it, so that when a buyer calls and asks who the players are, you're the name in the room.
The category was the problem
When we started with Selector, analysts had them filed under AIOps, lost among dozens of vendors that sounded the same in an ambiguous category.
Fighting for a better seat in AIOps wasn't going to work. The existing frameworks couldn't describe what Selector actually did. So we made the harder play and set out to show the analysts where AIOps fell short.
- 01Identify the gapAIOps couldn't describe what Selector did.
- 02Go deep at Gartner33 introductory inquiries, then 3–4 touchpoints per key analyst.
- 03Bring the evidenceShow where AIOps fell short. Bring customers into the conversation.
- 04Shape the categoryEvent Intelligence: a new Gartner category, with Selector a key voice.
Depth over breadth
We bet on Gartner specifically and went deep: 33 introductory inquiries, then three to four real touchpoints with each key analyst.
We didn't recite the feature list. We educated analysts about the gap, where AIOps fell short, and why the existing frameworks couldn't describe what Selector was doing. We brought the customers who were already buying the future into the conversation.
Somewhere in those conversations the thinking shifted.
Holly Hagerman · Managing Partner, Connect Marketing
What happened
Selector became a key voice in Gartner's creation of a new category, Event Intelligence, and the mentions followed.
since 2024
But the mention isn't the win. The win is that prospect who proactively called, and the fact that Gartner now thinks about this market the way Selector does.
Why most programs don't get here
I've worked on this for decades and I still lose track of how many companies get it backward. They want the Hype Cycle spot as fast as possible. They want to show off. They skip the first half of the job: the relationships, the education, the patient work of helping an analyst see the world a little differently.
That's what earns the spot. There are no shortcuts and no magic pill. There's the work. Selector did the work. That's why the prospect knew where to go.