Yvonne Genovese
Executive Vice President, Research & Advisory at IT
Executive
About Yvonne Genovese
Executive Vice President, Research & Advisory at Gartner since February 2025; previously EVP, Global Product Management (Nov 2020–Feb 2025). Age 63 with ~25 years at Gartner, following senior marketing leadership roles at Mapics and Marcam and 12 years at IBM . Company performance context for pay-for-performance: 2024 Contract Value reached $5,262 million (+7.8% YoY FX-neutral), company TSR grew a $100 investment to $314 vs $159 for the peer index, and net income was $1,254 million . Research revenue rose 5% FX-neutral; Conferences revenue hit $583 million (+15% FX-neutral); Consulting revenue grew 9% FX-neutral .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gartner | EVP, Research & Advisory | Feb 2025–present | Leads Research & Advisory portfolio; execution focus tied to CV growth, multi‑year revenue visibility . |
| Gartner | EVP, Global Product Management | Nov 2020–Feb 2025 | Drove product roadmap and commercial alignment across practices . |
| Gartner | SVP, Research & Advisory (Marketing & Communications) | Pre‑2020 (tenure prior to EVP) | Led Marketing & Communications practice; prior leadership of TSP and CIO practices . |
| Mapics, Inc. | Chief Marketing Officer | Prior to Gartner | Go‑to‑market leadership for global software products . |
| Marcam, Inc. | Worldwide VP Marketing | Prior to Mapics | Enterprise software marketing scale and segmentation . |
| IBM | Various roles | ~12 years | Enterprise technology and operations foundation . |
External Roles
No public company board roles disclosed for Genovese in the proxy statements .
Fixed Compensation
- Specific base salary, target bonus %, and actual bonus paid for Genovese are not disclosed (she is not a Named Executive Officer in 2024) .
Performance Compensation
Gartner executive officers’ pay design is heavily performance-based with rigorous goals and longer vesting, applied enterprise-wide.
Annual Bonus Framework (Executives)
| Metric | Weight | Threshold | Target | Maximum | Actual (2024 FX-neutral) | Payout Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA | 50% | $973m | $1,497m | $1,591m | $1,586m | 196.7% |
| Revenue | 50% | $5,355m | $6,274m | $6,474m | $6,331m | 128.5% |
| Overall Bonus Outcome | — | — | — | — | — | 162.6% (equal-weighted) |
Notes:
- Executive bonuses are based solely on company-wide EBITDA and Revenue; awards range 0–200% of target, capped at 200% .
- While Genovese’s personal target % is not disclosed, the corporate payout factor for 2024 was certified at 162.6% .
Long-Term Incentive (PSUs & SARs)
| Element | Mix | Performance Metric | Performance Period | 2024 Target/Actual | Payout | Vesting | Key Terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSUs | 70% | Contract Value (CV) | 1-year performance, 4-year time vest | Target $5,222m / Actual $5,262m | 120.8% of target | 25% per year over 4 years | Earn contingent on CV; time vest thereafter . |
| SARs | 30% | Stock price appreciation | n/a | n/a | n/a | 25% per year over 4 years | 7-year term; stock‑settled; value only if price > grant . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Executive stock ownership guidelines | CEO: 6x salary; other executive officers: 3x salary. Must hold 50% of net shares until in compliance; counted holdings include direct, vested/unvested RSUs and earned PSUs (not SARs/options) . |
| Hedging/Pledging | Prohibited for directors and executive officers under Insider Trading Policy; policy filed with 10-K . |
| Insider transactions (recent) | 2024-12-11: Sold 173 shares at $519.83 ($89,931) . 2025-02-18: Sold 1,686 shares (~$871,948) per SEC Form 4 index . 2025-02-26: Sold 1,740 shares at $506.47 ($881,257) . |
| Reported beneficial ownership | 4,889 shares as of 2025-02-26 (third-party aggregation of SEC filings) . |
| Section 16 compliance note | One late Form 4 filed for Genovese due to administrative error (Company statement) . |
Employment Terms
| Provision | Executives (other than CEO) |
|---|---|
| Employment status | At-will; no individual employment contract disclosed for Genovese . |
| Severance (no Change in Control) | 12 months continued base salary; up to 12 months COBRA reimbursement; unvested equity otherwise forfeited (except death, disability, retirement) . |
| Change-in-Control (Double Trigger) | If terminated within 12 months post-CoC: all unvested equity vests in full; PSUs vest at target if performance not yet determined; SARs/options fully exercisable for 12 months . |
| Death/Disability/Retirement | Death/disability: 100% vesting; Retirement-eligible: continued full vesting per plan conditions; SAR exercise windows per plan . |
| Clawback | Company will recover excess incentive-based compensation for the prior 3 fiscal years in case of an accounting restatement, per NYSE Rule 10D-1 . |
| Tax gross-ups | No excise tax gross-ups for executives (practice affirmed) . |
| Non-compete / Non-solicit | Required in severance separation agreements; reaffirmation of confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation obligations . |
Company Performance Context (Pay Drivers)
| Metric | 2024 Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contract Value (CV) | $5,262m (+7.8% YoY FX-neutral) | Most important performance measure linking pay to long-term revenue growth . |
| TSR (Company) | $100 → $314 (2019–2024) | Outperformance vs peer index ($100 → $159) . |
| Net Income | $1,254m | As reported in pay-versus-performance table . |
| Research Revenue | +5% YoY FX-neutral | Largest, highest-margin segment (74% contribution margin) . |
| Conferences Revenue | $583m (+15% YoY FX-neutral) | All-time high . |
| Consulting Revenue | +9% YoY FX-neutral | Strong backlog and pipeline . |
Compensation Governance and Peer Benchmarking
- Peer group for 2024 benchmarking included Adobe, ServiceNow, Workday, Moody’s, Verisk, Aon, Intuit, Synopsys, SS&C, Interpublic, Thomson Reuters, Equifax, Akamai, Autodesk, Cadence, Splunk (acq. 3/2024), VMware (acq. 11/2023) .
- 2024 Say-on-Pay approval: 92% of votes cast .
- Best-practice guardrails: double-trigger CoC for equity, 4-year vesting cadence, cap awards at 2x, prohibition on hedging/pledging, independent comp consultant (Exequity), annual risk assessment .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Executive incentives are tightly linked to CV, Revenue, and EBITDA with longer vesting; policies prohibit hedging/pledging and mandate ownership guidelines, supporting long-term alignment .
- Insider activity: Multiple Form 4 sales in Feb 2025 around annual vesting cadence signal routine liquidity/tax events rather than strategic de‑risking; monitor cadence vs future vesting releases and any 10b5‑1 plan indications in filings .
- Retention risk: Standard severance (12 months) and double-trigger equity acceleration are market‑typical; absence of individual employment contract for Genovese reduces guaranteed pay and suggests retention relies on equity value realization from CV growth .
- Governance quality: Strong say‑on‑pay support, independent consultant, clawback policy, and explicit prohibition on hedging/pledging reduce red‑flag risk; note one late Form 4 administrative error disclosed .