As of July, Gregory Adams is the new COO of the state of Tennessee. In this role, he will see that state departments are operating efficiently and effectively.

Prior to this appointment, Adams was managing director in the financial services sector of IBM. During his 37 years at the company, Adams held sales, marketing, operations, quality and general management positions, including serving as branch manager of IBM’s East Tennessee operation and regional manager of the mid-South region, in the New York, Georgia and Tennessee offices. Also, he was managing director of operations and board member for IBM Japan in Tokyo.

Adams received an undergraduate degree from Princeton in 1976 in basic engineering and a master’s from MIT in science and management.