Cutting across a variety of industries and the public sector, with a significant technology pedigree, CNBC's Technology Executive Council offers perspective on the most pressing issues facing the industry. This is the list of the founding members of the Technology Executive Council.  For a full list of current TEC members, please visit www.cnbccouncils.com/tec.
Technology Executive Council Founding Members

A. Charles Thomas, General Motors

A. Charles Thomas, Chief Data & Analytics Officer General Motors.
General Motors

Charles Thomas is General Motors' first chief data and analytics officer. As leader of the chief data and analytics office, Thomas instills a culture of data-driven decision-making, maximizing the impact that data and insights have on business results, operational efficiency and effectiveness. Thomas plays a crucial role in GM's digital transformation to ensure customer, corporate and business data are managed as a strategic asset.

Thomas has expertise leveraging data to drive strategy across B2B and B2C segments, digital and traditional routes to market, multiple regions and industry verticals such as energy, high-tech, pharma, retail and financial services. This is Thomas' third time as CDO for a major corporation. He's previously led these efforts for Hewlett-Packard, USAA and Wells Fargo.

Thomas sits on the advisory panel of the University of California at Berkeley's School of Information and is a consult for numerous programs across the country. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology – organizational behavior and quantitative methods – from Yale University. He is headquartered in Detroit and lives in Austin with his wife and two children.