PRESS RELEASES

Charles Thomas to Join General Motors Company as Chief Data Officer

DETROIT, MI, July, 2017 — General Motors has selected Charles Thomas as the company’s first Chief Data Officer [CDO].  Charles was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer for Wells Fargo.  He brings to the role a Bachelor’s in History and a Master’s in Sociology from Baylor University, and a PhD from Yale University in Sociology, with a focus on organization behavior and quantitative methods.

At Wells Fargo, Charles was the bank’s first CDO and was responsible for a global data strategy that included database management, data architecture and strategy, data governance, business intelligence and analytics, analytical talent management, as well as big data capabilities.

Prior to his role at Wells Fargo, Charles served as the first CDO of insurer USAA where he helped use customer and market data to support the insurer’s expansion from five million members to over 10 million.

Charles started his career in data analysis with Reliant Energy after graduating from Yale in 1999.  Between Reliant and USAA, Charles worked in marketing and consumer analytics for HP and later Harte-Hanks – a strategic direct marketing agency based in Austin, Texas.

Charles serves on the Board of the United Negro College Fund and he is an Advisor to the School of Information at The University of California at Berkeley.

Charles officially joins General Motors on July 17, 2017.  Holden Richardson LLC was pleased to support General Motors with this critical assignment.

About Holden Richardson

Holden Richardson is a boutique executive recruiting firm focused on building leadership teams in the diversified industrial space, with a strong concentration in automotive, on-and off-highway, and specialty equipment OEMs and their Tier One and Tier Two supply base.