Keralite Tony Thomas to step down as Nissan CIO

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralite Tony Thomas is stepping down from his position as chief information officer (CIO) of the Nissan Motor Corporation.

He would officially leave the company on March 31. He would be replaced by Yasunobu Matoba from Japan.

Tony took over the role of the corporate vice-president at the Nissan in October 2017. Tony is likely to head a prominent IT company soon, sources have said.

Tony was one of the key forces behind bringing the Global Digital Hub of the Nissan to Thiruvananthapuram. Following in the heels of Nissan, companies such as Tech Mahindra, Fujitsu and Hitachi too reached Kerala.

Tony, who hails from Pala in Kottayam, has been living in Thiruvananthapuram for years.

After schooling in Pala and Kanjirapally, he completed his O'Level and A' Level from the University of London. Tony completed his electrical and electronics engineering from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET), in 1991. Though most of his career he was based out of Princeton, New Jersey, Tony has managed teams across the globe.

Earlier, Tony had been the CIO of Vodafone and General Electric. He had also been the senior vice-president of the Citi Bank. He is also a member of the government's high-powered digital advisory committee.

He is the founding member of CIO Angel Network (CAN), which helps young start-up entrepreneurs.

Tony's criticism on the anti-investor nature of the state had often triggered long discussions on the issue.