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70 | SEPTEMBER 14 • 2023 

F

rom Gil Golan’s drive-
way to GM’s Warren 
Technical Center, he 
has approximately 33 minutes 
in his Cadillac CT4 Blackwing 
as a man-on-a-mission to 
obsess about his company’s 
audacious agenda: zero crash-
es, zero emissions and zero 
congestion. And by the time 
the sun began to glare beside 
GM’s headquarters on its 
iconic skyscraper 
at 6:57 a.m. on 
Sept. 1, he also 
became a man on 
the move with a 
new title: GM’s 
Chief Technology 
Officer (CTO). 

 Gil Golan most recently 
served as GM’s vice president 
of Technology Acceleration 
and Commercialization (TAC) 
and now becomes CTO, vice 
president of Global Research 
and Development and presi-
dent of GM Ventures. 
“
As we work toward our 
vision of a world with zero 
crashes, zero emissions and 
zero congestion, it’s critical 
to have a continued focus on 
and investment in research, 
development and new tech-
nologies,” said Doug Parks, 
GM executive vice president of 
Global Product Development, 
Purchasing and Supply Chain. 
“We’re glad to have Gil’s exper-

tise and leadership to guide 
our future technology road-
maps through these transfor-
mational times.”
Golan has been engaged 
for decades with GM’s HQ 
in Detroit, with the GM 
Technical Center facility in 
Warren, its 710-acre campus 
in Southeast Michigan, which 
is the central home to over 
21,000 employees, as well as 
with global offices. 
The 58-year-old father of 
three and native Israeli has 
now completed his third 
relocation to Michigan. 
He’s divided his family life 
over his career between the 
two nations with children 
who have been born and 
grown up in Detroit. His wife, 
Michal, also from Israel, is an 
attorney who has worked with 
a Detroit law firm. His entire 
career has been in automotive 
and largely within General 
Motors, despite recruitment 
from prominent technology 
companies. 
“GM is my home,” he said. 
“I’m trying to support both the 
local community as well as … 
doing whatever I can to make 
GM the best company on the 
planet. I’m committed — and 
when I’m committed, I’m put-
ting 110% of my time, energy 
and effort to make it happen.”

A WINNING TRACK 
RECORD
His record at the compa-
ny is one of dedication and 
achievement. Golan has been 
with GM since the late 1990s 
and previously held executive 
positions in the U.S., includ-
ing as director for Global 
Strategy with GM Research & 
Development and as a director 
with GM Corporate Venture 

Capital. He remarked on the 
unique nature of research done 
at a company such as GM with 
one of the most established 
and successful research units 
of any multinational firm. The 
company and its record of 
innovation goes back over a 
century. 
One of its earliest notable 
inventions was the world’s first 
lacquer paint system and the 
first commercial room air con-
ditioner in the 1920s. The next 
decade would bring about the 
hydraulic valve lifter and the 
manufacturing of tanks and 
planes for World War II, span-
ning two-cycle engines and 
super fuel for aircraft, landing 
crafts and military surveillance 
equipment. 
The 1950s would lead to 
the first mechanical open-
heart surgery heart pump and 
machines to sterilize blood and 
vaccines, which led to appli-
cations to manufacture new 
vaccines such as the Salk polio 
vaccine. This decade would 
also incubate the computer 
operating system in 1956. 
The year 1970 saw the first 
use of unleaded gasoline 
demonstrated by its research 
laboratory followed by 
advancements in frontal crash 
testing and then the introduc-
tion of airbags and the first 
catalytic converter. 
More recent innovations 
over the last few decades have 
focused on the advancement 
of solar technology, humanoid 
robots and the first extend-
ed-range electric vehicle to 
reach the market with the 
introduction of the Chevrolet 
Volt.
There’s a strong realization 
that the playbook that got GM 
to this point will need to be 

He’s Got His 
Foot on the Gas

Israeli Gil Golan promoted to GM 
Chief Technology Officer.

ADAM FINKEL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Gil Golan at the New Site 
event in November 2017

Gil Golan