Tom Dekle

Tom graduated in 1984 from Penn State Capitol Campus with a Bachelor of Humanities majoring in Multi-Media Journalism. He joined IBM in 1994 after spending nine years in retail and merchandising with Silo/Dixons, plc. During his career at IBM, Tom has held management positions launching Options by IBM in the consumer business worldwide, sales operations, brand management, and e-business Internet strategy and execution. As the Director of Marketing and Merchandising for US Direct, he was responsible for all marketing with IBM Direct including merchandising, offerings and promotions, segmentation, and web strategy and execution. Tom was promoted to Vice President, Global SMB TeleWeb Sales in January of 2003. He was responsible for all aspects of the Small / Medium Business Worldwide through the tele-web organization of ibm.com. Tom then moved on to be VP of Inside Sales at IBM responsible for the Lead Development Reps generating leads for IBM, the marketing team, and the Online Commerce group which delivered 18 of 18 quarters of over achievement to plan. He later became VP of Global Marketing Volume Demand Systems in Global Technology Services. He was responsible for the Volume Demand System Program and driving demand through events and agencies for Global Technology Services.

Tom currently is Vice President of IBM Global Digital Sales Acceleration where he manages a lead development team, a group of data scientists, the private digital commerce function, and the sales acceleration/marketing teams. His focus is on social selling, developing talent, and new business opportunities. Tom is an advisory board member of AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals) where he was named a 2010 Top 50 Most Influential Inside Sales Professional and received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Inside Sales.

Tom and his wife Natalie (1985 Penn State Capital College, Bach of Hum) have two daughters, Maire and Anna, and live in Chapel Hill, NC.