Jonathan Adashek 

Chief Communications Officer 
IBM
US

 

 

Jonathan Adashek joining IBM as its chief communications officer in January 2020 was one of the biggest industry people move stories last year. Assuming one of the business world’s highest profile communications jobs following the departure of Ray Day, Adashek stepped up to lead a department that Day purposefully upended upon joining the company two years earlier, including overhauling IBM’s longstanding PR agency relationships, in an effort to rally the flagging business. 

Within six months, Adashek had made his own adjustments to IBM’s comms function to reflect the future of the 109-year-old technology giant, as it positions itself as a 21st century computing company. Adashek is growing his team, adding expertise in line with IBM’s focus on being a leader in areas including hybrid cloud, AI and advanced technologies such as quantum computing.

Adashek joined IBM after departing his post as global communications lead for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, where he reported to chairman Carlos Ghosn prior to his arrest and subsequent escape from Japan to Lebanon. He took on the Alliance role in Paris in early 2018, after previously serving as Nissan's chief communications officer in Yokohama. He joined Nissan in 2015 from Microsoft, where he was the GM of communications strategy. Before that, he was EVP of Edelman, where he served as a global client relationship manager.