A Gartner Expert Explains Why Most B2B Transformations Fail

Every company wants to modernize. The question is whether they're fixing the business or simply adding more technology.

Jackie Swanson is the Managing Partner at Gartner Consulting, leading global transformation engagements across retail, consumer products, manufacturing, and utilities. With more than two decades of experience spanning consulting and business operations, she helps organizations redesign operating models, modernize enterprise processes, improve data quality, and successfully adopt AI and digital technologies.

You Will Learn:
- Why successful B2B transformation starts with the operating model—not the software
- What Shadow AI is and why enterprises should pay attention
- Why bad processes create bad data
- How clean data becomes the foundation for successful AI adoption
- Why digital ordering projects often fail despite good technology
- How to improve employee adoption during transformation projects
- What modern B2B buyers expect in 2026
- Why the first warning sign of a failing transformation usually comes from employees
Show Notes:
- (00:00:56) Meet Jackie Swanson
- (00:03:02) AI Speed and Risk
- (00:07:22) Moving Off Manual Orders
- (00:10:12) Data Quality Matters
- (00:14:59) Stalled Rollout Costs
- (00:16:42) Sales Reps as Blockers
- (00:19:24) Buyer Expectations 2026
- (00:21:09) Transformation War Story
- (00:25:22) Early Warning Signals
- (00:26:14) Career Lessons and Wrap

The No.1 eCom Operations hack
- “Operating model comes first, technology second. Companies should define how they want to run the business before layering on AI or new tools, not the other way around.

This episode is sponsored by B2Bware the B2B commerce platform that replaces your email orders, your manual data entry, and your integration mess with one system that runs on your ERP. Check them out at b2bware.com.