ADAM BERNARD

Adam is an automotive analyst, writer, and speaker with four decades of experience in the industry.

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A longtime auto enthusiast, Adam grew up in New Jersey with dreams of being an automotive designer. Believing an engineering degree would provide a good foundation for a design career, he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT. While there, he learned of a scholarship opportunity with General Motors, which led to a summer internship in GM Design in their Strategic Planning team in 1984; he joined GM full-time in 1986 and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990 through GM's Fellowship program. In 2016, he attended Stanford Business School’s inaugural LGBTQ Executive Education program.

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In 1999, Adam joined GM's newly formed Competitor Intelligence. While there, helped build and lead a global intelligence network to help drive informed decision-making by keeping leadership informed of emerging threats and opportunities posed by an increasingly complex automotive landscape. He and his team tracked competitors' products, powertrains, technologies, and business strategies, sharing information via wargaming workshops, newsletters, videos, and in-person auto show tours.

 

While at GM, Adam also taught at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, creating a business-focused class called Design Strategies for automotive design students. He is currently President of the Society of Automotive Analysts and the Detroit region of the Lambda Car Club.

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Adam also has extensive experience in the DEI space. He joined GM PLUS, GM’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group in 2001, and served as president from 2005-2021. Under his leadership, the Board added its first straight ally, transgender, and non-binary members, earned its first perfect 100 score on the Human Corporate Equality Index in 2006, and was named Out & Equal’s ERG of the Year in 2009. The group expanded from a single Detroit chapter to nine chapters globally.

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Adam lives with his husband, Rich (a retired nurse) in suburban Detroit, with his 1972 Mini, 1963 Buick Riviera, and Rich’s 1962 Galaxie, 1963 Continental, and 1979 Lincoln Town Car.