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TBR Talks: Decoding Strategies and Ecosystems of the Globe's Top Tech Firms
TBR Talks: Decoding Strategies and Ecosystems of the Globe's Top Tech Firms
Author: Technology Business Research, Inc.
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Welcome to “TBR Talks: Decoding Strategies & Ecosystems of the Globe’s Top Tech Firms.” Each week TBR Principal Analyst Patrick Heffernan chats with special guests on disruptions in the broad technology ecosystem. Patrick also answers key intelligence questions TBR analysts hear from executives and business unit leaders among top IT professional services firms, IT vendors, and telecom vendors and operators.
TBR is an independent market, competitive and ecosystem intelligence firm that provides timely and actionable business and financial analyses in formats tailored to clients’ needs.
TBR is an independent market, competitive and ecosystem intelligence firm that provides timely and actionable business and financial analyses in formats tailored to clients’ needs.
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How accurate were TBR’s 2025 predictions for cloud and telecom markets? In this episode of “TBR Talks,” Principal Analyst and Host Patrick Heffernan reviews TBR’s 2025 telecom and cloud predictions against the year’s actual market developments as well as what these developments mean for our 2026 predictions in an age of AI-enabled research and analysis. Last year Principal Analyst Chris Antlitz predicted major communication service providers would not realize ROI from 5G investments, which they did not, while Principal Analyst Allan Krans predicted Microsoft Azure would close the gap with Amazon Web Services in the IaaS market, which it did. Patrick walks listeners through each leading analyst’s process for making predictions and discusses with them how AI has and has not changed the way they go about making their market predictions. Listen and learn with TBR Talks! 2025 Cloud Predictions: https://landing.tbri.com/2025-cloud-market-share-predictions2025 Telecom Predictions: https://landing.tbri.com/6g-predictions-for-2025Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-antlitz-a1541312/Connect with Allan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-krans/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
In this episode of “TBR Talks,” TBR Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Dan Demers interviews host Patrick on how the globe’s top global systems integrators, ISVs, hyperscalers and OEMs use TBR’s proprietary data and analysis to make validated and data-backed decisions. From strategy planning based on partners’ annualized revenue or headcount growth to allocation of training budgets and schedules to align engineering resources, TBR’s unique data and analysis within the ecosystem give leaders a meaningful and independent set of data to make partnership investment decisions. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Watch the webinar replay here: https://youtu.be/qNj4Aoc45DQExplore TBR’s ecosystem intelligence research with a free trial of TBR Insight Center™: https://tinyurl.com/ye23x7xxSubmit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-demers-959a541/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Eric Müller of Work & Co meets with “TBR Talks” host Patrick Heffernan to discuss security in the AI age, the importance of curiosity and creativity, and advice for the upcoming generation of talent from his perspective as a seasoned industry professional. Eric Müller is an Associate Director of Product Engineering at Work & Co, part of Accenture Song. With over 20 years of experience spanning banking, social media, B2B, retail, fashion, and online gaming, he brings deep expertise in both engineering and digital security. Before joining Work & Co, Eric served as VP of Engineering and CISO at Presence, and held key roles at Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, Razorfish, and Mekanism. He has led award-winning digital initiatives for major brands including Microsoft, Samsung, eBay, and DKNY. Eric is known for his empathetic leadership style and transparent communication, which foster resilient, high-performing teams that deliver without burnout. He also champions strong agency–client collaboration, involving partners early and often to build trust and create better outcomes. Outside of work, Eric is an amateur photographer, baking enthusiast, and passionate advocate for digital security. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericmullersf/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Kelly See, knowledge analyst for BI/CI at Ericsson, joins “TBR Talks” host Patrick Heffernan to discuss the state of AI tools for knowledge management inside one of the world’s leading telecom vendors. Kelly also shares how the demands of global knowledge management are being served with artificial intelligence tools across a diverse global workforce. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellysee/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
TBR Principal Analyst Boz Hristov joins “TBR Talks” to share his insights into how global systems integrators and management consultancies are partnering with ISVs, hyperscalers, model makers and OEMs to deliver solutions to enterprise. Additionally, Patrick talks through industry specialization, permission to play, data management and transformation orchestration within the rapidly evolving AI marketplace. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Boz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boz-hristov-2b0589a/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
In this episode of “TBR Talks,” Senior Director David Martinez shares his point of view on key topics covered by his BCG Henderson Institute team, particularly regarding geopolitics and artificial intelligence. The BCG Henderson Institute is an internal think tank at Boston Consulting Group.David Zuluaga Martínez is a Senior Director at the Geopolitics & Society Lab, based in BCG’s Brooklyn office. Prior to his current role, David was a partner affiliated with BCG’s Public Sector practice. Previously, as an Alum Ambassador at the Tech & Biz Lab (2023-2024), he co-authored research on generative AI and, as an Alum Ambassador at the Strategy Lab (2021), on business resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic and collective business action to address climate change. Since joining BCG in 2018, David has worked on strategy, operations and technology projects primarily for social impact and public sector organizations. His recent engagements include designing and operating an emergency food assistance program during the COVID-19 pandemic for one of the largest U.S. cities, leading the assessment of COVID’s economic impact for a large U.S. state, and conducting a strategic review of the procurement division of a large U.S. state. Prior to BCG David completed a PhD. in political theory at Princeton University.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Learn more about David's work:o https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/geopolitics-of-tech-is-hitting-all-companieso https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/where-will-tomorrows-web-geniuses-goo https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/how-ceos-navigate-new-geopolitics-of-genaiConnect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidzuluagam/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Elizabeth Roberts, Global Head of Information Management at Ericsson, joins “TBR Talks” host Patrick Heffernan to share insights into what Ericsson is doing to leverage AI tools for internal knowledge management at the world’s leading telecom vendor. With over 3,000 regular users, each of whom support different business groups, executives and field leaders, Ericsson’s Business Intelligence Center (BIC) has become a powerful use case of AI internally. Elizabeth shares the challenges with AI adoption, change management and the never-ending need for quick and correct intelligent answers to business questions. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethdroberts/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
IT, OT, plus AI — In a Season 3 bonus episode of “TBR Talks,” Principal Analyst Bozhidar Hristov and Principal Analyst and “TBR Talks” host Patrick Heffernan discuss Hitachi Digital’s view into Industry 5.0.Looking beyond the marketing spin of Industry 5.0, TBR’s analysts discuss how Hitachi Digital leverages its engineering expertise, industrial know-how and IT capabilities to bring solutions to the market with its partners.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Insights from the Hitachi Digital Services summit on technology shifts and growth prospects in the IT and professional services sectors — Read full special report todaySubmit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Boz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boz-hristov-2b0589a/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Technology executive Darlene Wilson joins “TBR Talks” for a discussion on tech disruptions, business model evolutions and life as a technology expert.Darlene is a seasoned technical strategist with over 20 years of leadership experience at companies like Amazon Web Services, Whole Foods Market, and E*TRADE, where she has driven growth through both market- and customer-centric efforts. She is known for building high-performing teams, mentoring emerging leaders, and championing women in tech through roles like co-sponsoring the AWS Women’s Summit and participating in T200.A technology leader and veteran of many disruptions, including “as a Service” to cloud and AI, Darlene talks Amazon Web Services’ entrepreneurial start, the evolution of multivendor alliances and the ever-present consistency of change.Listen and learn with TBR TalksSubmit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Learn more about Darlene Wilson: https://www.darleneawilson.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Darlene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darlene-a-wilson/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
In this episode of “TBR Talks,” Senior Analyst Kelly Lesiczka and Principal Analyst Boz Hristov share insights into EY’s People Advisory Services after their meeting with senior leadership and partners during a recent showcase of the service line. Additionally, Kelly, Boz and “TBR Talks” host Patrick Heffernan discuss how EY manages the critical aspect of people advisory in digital transformation within its partner model, how enterprise needs have changed post-pandemic, and how people advisory engagements fit within EY’s larger framework of services offerings.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylesiczka/Connect with Boz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boz-hristov-2b0589a/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Principal Analyst Boz Hristov and Analyst Alex Demeule join "TBR Talks" for an exclusive look at TBR’s Ecosystem Reports, which detail how the top global systems integrators (GSIs) most important technology partners — Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, SAP, Oracle, Workday, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Adobe — collaborate with integrators and consultancies. How many certified, trained staff do these practices bring to their partnerships within the most influential GSIs? How do they address migration and modernization efforts? How are they deploying AI solutions? TBR has been answering these critical questions for years, and Boz and Alex are excited to announce that upcoming publications will include the addition of geographic data cuts for Americas, EMEA and APAC. (Industry vertical cuts on the horizon as well!)Additionally, the trio will discuss the possibility of more analysis on partner perception of working with one another as well as the addition of more research on ISVs such as HubSpot. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Boz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boz-hristov-2b0589a/Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderddemeule/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
In this episode of "TBR Talks", Principal Analyst Boz Hristov and Senior Analyst Kelly Lesiczka join Patrick for a discussion on the challenges occurring amid reductions in force and labor rationalization across the global tech marketplace.The pair, who specialize in digital transformation, ecosystems and management consulting research, also look at the trends and predictions TBR’s teams noted in 2023 and continue to observe in 2025 regarding anticipated reduction in and optimization of the labor pyramid within professional services and IT services vendors.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylesiczka/Connect with Boz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boz-hristov-2b0589a/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Post-KPMG Global Analyst Day 2025, Senior Analyst Kelly Lesiczka joins "TBR Talks" host Patrick Heffernan for top takeaways from the February event. The pair review KPMG’s strategy, including its emphasis on IT and Strategy Consulting, within the context of its legacy Tax & Audit business model, and its position as client zero in implementing and adoption AI across its global operation. Kelly and Patrick and look at broader trends and analysis she is seeing in TBR’s research on the management consulting space.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylesiczka/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Principal Analyst Bozhidar Hristov, Senior Analyst Catie Merrill and Analyst Alex Demeule join "TBR Talks" to share key takeaways top announcements from KPMG’s Global Analyst Day 2025, held in February at KPMG’s global training facility, Lakehouse. The group also discusses strategies of the leading advisory firm as well as multipartner ecosystem management and co-investment across declared and committed partners, generative AI and data government as a key differentiator, and more.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Boz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boz-hristov-2b0589a/Connect with Catie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catie-merrill-154899b5/Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderddemeule/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Who gets the best talent? Who decides what’s next? Who does the selling? How does everyone know what everyone else is doing? And what role will managed services play?Despite their digital transformations over the years, TBR is still hearing these five questions from the Big Four — KPMG, EY, PwC and Deloitte — and in this episode of "TBR Talks," we leverage our recent publications on the firms to address these questions on internal operational challenges of the Big Four consulting firms. From how they decide on talent allocation to selling, regional management and revenue attribution and visibility across often opaque regional management hierarchies, we’re diving in, in this episode.Listen and learn with TBR TalksRead more: https://bit.ly/44ymBvqSubmit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
Research Analyst Alek Maxfield and Senior Analyst Ben Carbonneau of TBR’s hardware research practice share insights into the performance forecasts and emerging solutions of leading semiconductor providers and OEMs. Additionally, the pair discuss their predictions for the hardware market in 2025, including the possibility that the much-discussed AI PC refresh will be overshadowed by other drivers of enterprise spend.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Download TBR's 2025 AI PC Predictions: https://tinyurl.com/4375d3fuSubmit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Alek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alekmaxfield/Connect with Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-carbonneau/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
How are research firms, including TBR, and market and competitive intelligence groups within technology vendors using powerful new generative AI (GenAI) tools? In this episode of "TBR Talks," TBR Senior Vice President Dan Demers joins Patrick to discuss how global systems integrators, telecom vendors, hyperscalers and others are deploying GenAI internally to improve operations as well as how they are delivering GenAI solutions to enterprises across the global ecosystem. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Download TBR's 2025 GenAI Predictions: https://tinyurl.com/bdpabvy6Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-demers-959a541/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
TBR’s Public Sector Senior Analyst John Caucis joins the podcast to share how the very real concerns have led to net-zero impact on federal systems integrators’ financial performance in the last fiscal quarter, with some leading services firms revising guidance upward. Are the fears going to be substantiated into the next fiscal quarter, or will demand for IT modernization within the U.S. federal government remain? Public Sector Analyst James Wichert also joins Patrick this episode for a discussion on the realities of Department of Government Efficiency’s impact on vendors and the market. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncaucis/Connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameswichert/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
What challenges will IT decision makers face in the current macroeconomic environment and amid the need to manage enterprise data, workload migration and ongoing services? In this episode of "TBR Talks," TBR Principal Cloud Analyst Allan Krans shares his analysis of and predictions for cloud market share in 2025, including expectations for generative AI (GenAI) spend and the impact the technology will have on the market. Patrick and Allan also dig deeper into anticipated ROI for recent GenAI investments, compared to more common digital transformation engagements for cloud players such as Microsoft’s Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platforms.Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Download TBR's 2025 Cloud Predictions: https://tinyurl.com/5fy3nhmpSubmit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Allan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-krans/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy
From post-proof of concept use cases of generative AI and adoption rates of fixed wireless access to missed ROI opportunities of 5G and the vision of 6G, in this episode of "TBR Talks" Telecom Principal Analyst Chris Antlitz joins Patrick to highlight his top takeaways from Mobile World Congress 2025. Chris considers the implications for the global telecom market and how the market must change. Additionally, he discusses the foundational challenges of global telecom operators and traditional telecom vendors, where governments must interview, and what role hyperscalers will play. Listen and learn with TBR Talks!Read the special report: https://tinyurl.com/32z6y7e8Submit your Key Intelligence Questions for Patrick and his guests: https://bit.ly/3T9VZekLearn more about TBR at https://tbri.com/Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-heffernan-0b90785/Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-antlitz-a1541312/TBR Talks is produced by Technology Business Research, Inc. Edited by Haley DemersMusic by Burty Sounds via PixabayArt by Amanda Hamilton Sy




