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Here are 1-2 brief analogies to describe Forrester Research (FORR):

• Bloomberg for business and tech strategy: Like Bloomberg provides critical data, news, and analysis to financial professionals, Forrester offers proprietary research, insights, and advisory to business and technology leaders to inform their strategic decisions in areas like customer experience, marketing, and technology adoption.
• McKinsey for market and technology insights: Similar to how top consulting firms like McKinsey offer high-level strategic advice, Forrester provides ongoing research, data-driven insights, and consulting to help companies navigate complex market, technology, and customer experience trends.

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• Research Subscriptions: Provides access to an extensive library of proprietary research reports, data, and frameworks across technology and business domains.
• Advisory Services: Offers direct, personalized guidance and strategic advice from expert analysts through inquiry sessions and one-on-one interactions.
• Consulting Engagements: Delivers customized, project-based services to help clients develop strategies, implement new initiatives, and optimize their operations.
• Events & Webinars: Hosts industry conferences, summits, and virtual events for networking, learning, and insights from thought leaders.
• Executive Programs: Offers exclusive communities, curated content, and strategic support tailored for senior leaders to drive organizational change.
• Tools & Assessments: Provides proprietary frameworks, diagnostic tools, and benchmarks to help organizations evaluate their capabilities and performance.

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Forrester Research (FORR) primarily sells its research, consulting, and event services to other companies, not individuals.

Due to the proprietary nature of client relationships and Forrester's diverse global client base, specific "major customer" company names are generally not publicly disclosed by Forrester. Forrester serves thousands of organizations worldwide through subscriptions to its research, data, and advisory services, making it unlikely for any single client or small group of clients to constitute a "major customer" in terms of revenue disclosure.

Instead of specific named companies, Forrester's major customers can be broadly categorized by the types of organizations and the business functions they serve:

• Technology Vendors and Providers: Companies that develop and sell software, hardware, IT services, cloud solutions, and other technology products. These customers utilize Forrester's research for market insights, competitive analysis, product strategy, and go-to-market execution within the technology sector.
• Financial Services Firms: Banks, insurance companies, investment firms, and fintech innovators rely on Forrester for insights into customer experience, digital transformation, security, and technology adoption trends relevant to their industry.
• Enterprises Across Diverse Industries: Large and medium-sized businesses in sectors such as retail, healthcare, manufacturing, media, and telecommunications. These clients typically engage Forrester for strategic guidance on customer experience (CX), digital strategy, marketing technology (MarTech), employee experience (EX), and overall business technology strategy. Key stakeholders often include CIOs, CMOs, CTOs, and Chief Customer Officers.

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• Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
• Salesforce, Inc. (CRM)

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George F. Colony

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

George F. Colony is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Forrester Research, a position he has held since July 1983, giving him a tenure of over 42 years. He founded Forrester in his basement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1983. Colony also founded Choate Rosemary Hall, where he holds the title of Chairman. He is recognized as an influential thought leader, providing advice to CEOs of leading global companies on the impact of technology change. Throughout his career, Colony has made significant predictions regarding business and technology trends, including the birth of client/server computing, the dot-com implosion, the rise of social computing, and the transition from IT to Business Technology. In 2006, he was awarded the Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year Award."

Chris Finn

Chief Financial Officer

Chris Finn serves as Forrester's Chief Financial Officer, having been appointed in September 2021. He is responsible for overseeing all finance functions, including accounting. Finn brings over two decades of management and financial expertise. Before joining Forrester, he was the Vice President, leading financial planning and analysis and procurement at LogMeIn, a software-as-a-service company. His prior experience includes serving as CFO of the healthcare division at Nuance Communications and holding leadership positions in finance at Progress Software, First Wind, and Monster Worldwide. Finn has extensive experience in scaling global companies and leading mergers and acquisitions.

Sharyn Leaver

Chief Research Officer

Sharyn Leaver leads Forrester's research organization. In this role, she oversees the analyst, executive partner, and analytics teams, which are responsible for the company's research initiatives.

Carrie Johnson

Chief Product Officer

As Forrester's Chief Product Officer, Carrie Johnson is responsible for leading the company's research portfolio, product management, and digital strategy organizations.

Christophe Favre

Interim Chief Sales Officer

Christophe Favre serves as Forrester's interim Chief Sales Officer. His responsibilities include leading the global sales strategy and execution for Forrester's portfolio of research, consulting, and events offerings.

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The key risks to Forrester Research (FORR) are:

1. Macroeconomic Uncertainty and Client Spending Pressure: Forrester's business is highly susceptible to macroeconomic headwinds. Inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical tensions are leading clients to reduce or pause their spending on research and advisory services. This directly impacts Forrester's core subscription retention, which saw client retention flat at 74% in Q3 2025, and wallet retention down to 85% in Q2 2025. Additionally, project-based Consulting revenue fell 8% in Q3 2025, and the Events business is projected to decline in the high 20% range for full-year 2025. The company's full-year 2025 total revenues are expected to decline by 6.4% to 8.7% compared to the prior year, reflecting this pressure on corporate budgets.
2. Disruption from Generative AI (GenAI): Generative AI presents a significant and multifaceted risk to Forrester's business model. While Forrester is developing its own AI offerings, such as Izola and Forrester AI Access, there is a risk of failing to effectively execute its new AI strategy. More fundamentally, GenAI tools have the potential to disrupt the core business of proprietary research, potentially disintermediating Forrester's traditional offerings by providing clients with alternative means to access insights.
3. Talent Acquisition and Retention: Attracting and retaining key talent is an operational risk for Forrester. While not as extensively detailed as other risks, the importance of talent is underscored by broader industry challenges in hiring quantitative talent in fields like analytics and data science, which are crucial for research and advisory firms.

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Generative AI and advanced AI/ML tools represent a clear emerging threat to Forrester Research.

These technologies empower client organizations to rapidly synthesize vast amounts of public and proprietary data, perform sophisticated market analysis, identify emerging trends, and generate strategic insights internally. This capability directly reduces the perceived value and necessity of relying on expensive subscriptions to traditional market research reports and custom consulting engagements provided by firms like Forrester. As AI tools become more ubiquitous and sophisticated, companies can increasingly derive actionable intelligence and foresight without the need for external research intermediaries, thereby eroding Forrester's traditional revenue streams.

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1. Expansion and Adoption of AI-Powered Offerings: The recent launch of the Forrester AI Access product, a self-service offering leveraging generative AI, has shown early promise, securing a significant government contract and generating a rapidly growing multimillion-dollar pipeline. This product is designed to democratize research use at scale for executives who may not require direct analyst guidance, and management is optimistic about its potential to unlock new growth opportunities.
2. Focus on Client Retention and "Land and Expand" Strategy: Forrester is prioritizing improving client retention and implementing a "land and expand" strategy within existing accounts. This involves increasing contract value per client and encouraging multi-year contracts. The company's multi-year transition to the Forrester Decisions (FD) platform, which now accounts for 80% of contract value, is central to this strategy, as it is expected to drive long-term shareholder and client value.
3. Strategic Enhancement of Events: Despite current challenges in the events business, Forrester is making specific investments to enhance its events. These efforts include reallocating marketing resources, incentivizing client participation, and expanding event experiences. The goal is to leverage events to boost client retention and contribute to overall contract value growth.
4. International Market Penetration: Forrester Research is experiencing success in international markets, particularly within the CPG, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. This geographical expansion into high-growth areas presents an opportunity for future revenue growth.

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Share Repurchases

• In 2024, Forrester Research repurchased $15.9 million of its common stock.
• As of December 31, 2024, the company had approximately $80.0 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization.
• In April 2024, the company announced an increase in its equity buyback plan by $25 million, bringing the remaining authorization to $89 million at that time.

Share Issuance

• Stock-based compensation expense, indicative of share issuances, amounted to $14.3 million in 2024.
• For the full year 2025, stock-based compensation expense is projected to be between $12.0 million and $13.0 million.

Inbound Investments

• No significant inbound investments from third-parties were identified in the provided information for the last 3-5 years.

Outbound Investments

• In August 2024, Forrester Research divested its non-core FeedbackNow product line for $17.6 million, receiving $6.0 million in cash, a $9.0 million note receivable, and a $2.6 million non-marketable equity investment.

Capital Expenditures

• Purchases of property and equipment, representing capital expenditures, were $0.648 million in the first quarter of 2025.
• In the first quarter of 2024, capital expenditures for purchases of property and equipment were $1.426 million.
• The company anticipates that its current cash balance and cash flows from operations will cover its capital expenditure requirements for the next twelve months.