GE veteran Anthony Thomas is set to join automobile major Nissan Motor as CIO (chief information officer).
Anthony Thomas, most recently group CIO at GE Global, will be based at the headquarters of Nissan in Yokohama, Japan, and will report directly to CEO Hiroto Saikawa.
Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia & Oceania; Africa, Middle East & India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America.
Nissan sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2016, Nissan sold 5.63 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.72 trillion yen.
The IT strategy of Nissan Motor is called VITESSE, which means speed in French, and is based on the core concepts of Value Innovation, Technology Simplification, and Service Excellence. The strategy aims to contribute to business and innovation.
Nissan Motor is proceeding with its midterm business plan, Nissan Power 88, which extends through 2016 and sets the goals of an 8 percent global market share and an 8 percent operating profit ratio.
Nissan has a workforce of 247,500 and has partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999. In 2016, Nissan acquired 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is today the world’s largest automotive partnership, with combined annual sales of almost 10 million vehicles.
Anthony Thomas, who joined GE in 2015 as the group CIO, was responsible for managing IT for GE outside the US-market to drive business growth. Anthony Thomas was also responsible for driving GE’ IT and talent transformation and leadership pipeline in India.
Anthony Thomas was also a member of GE Global IT Council and GE India Leadership Council.
Prior to joining GE Global, he held a number of key positions at companies such as Vodafone India, Citi and Ernst & Young. Thomas possesses an electrical and electronics engineering from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1991.
Though through most of his career he was based out of Princeton, New Jersey, Thomas managed teams in several parts of the world.
According to LinkedIn profile, Anthony Thomas is a digital / information technology leader for global businesses, across sectors and geographies in both corporate and management consulting environments, with total about 25 years of which about 12 years leading digital transformations at a global level.
Anthony Thomas is the recipient of many industry honors and awards including CIO Power List Hall of Fame, PowerProfile by LinkedIn, CIO 100 Hall of Fame, etc. Mentor at Columbia University School of Professional Studies for its Executive M.S. in Technology Management Program.
Anthony Thomas is an active member in the startup ecosystem as a founding member of CIO Angel Network (CAN), and a member of Indian Angel Network (IAN). Advisor/mentor to Governments on Digital, IT, start-up and Innovation policies, core member of Reserve Bank of India’s Technical Committee on Mobile Banking; core member of CII National Committee on IT, ITeS & eCommerce; ASSOCHAM National Council on IT/ ITeS; and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), among others.