Robert D. Thomas is the general manager of IBM Data and ArtificialIntelligence. He directs IBM's product investment strategy, salesand marketing, expert labs, and global software product development. Major product brands under Rob's leadership include Watson, Db2, Netezza, Cognos, SPSS, and InfoSphere. Since joining IBM's softwareunit, Mr. Thomas has held roles of increasing responsibilityincluding business development, product engineering, sales andmarketing, and general management. He has overseen four acquisitions by the firm representing more than $2.5 billion in transaction value. Mr. Thomas trained in economics at Vanderbilt University, earninghis BA in Economics. During his MBA from the University of Florida, Mr. Thomas worked in equity research, learning applied economics, finance, and financial analysis. Mr. Thomas has published two books: Big Data Revolution: WhatFarmers, Doctors, and Insurance Agents Can Teach Us About Patterns in Big Data (John Wiley & Sons, 2015), and The End of Tech Companies
