Leadership Team

Bhushan Kulkarni
Chairman and CEO

Bhushan started GDI in April 1993, and he has grown GDI Infotech from a start-up to a profitable business solutions provider. Bhushan’s team-building and open-book approach to management has had a powerfully positive effect on the company’s development. This approach has allowed Bhushan to build a dynamic management team and respond to an ever-changing market by building new and innovative solutions.

Bhushan was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Michigan Technology Services for 2001. He has received the American Dreamer Award, "40 under 40" recognition and has been listed in Who’s Who in Technology Services by Crain’s Business Weekly Magazine. He strongly believes in giving back to the community and he has served / is serving on boards of several non-profit organizations in Michigan very actively. Some of these organizations include Ann Arbor SPARK, Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, Walsh College, Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, Ann Arbor IT Zone, Ann Arbor Art Center, Information Technology Association of Michigan (ITEAM) and the American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI).

Bhushan was born in India and came to the United States in 1985 to pursue graduate studies at West Virginia University. After earning his M.S. in Engineering, he joined the Ford Motor Company as a Project Engineer before embarking on exciting journey of entrepreneurship. His ventures besides GDI include InTouch Communications (a Telecommunication Systems and Software company), and other two start-ups for Voice processing Software Development and CAD/CAM/CAE Services.

Madhuri Deshpande
President and COO

Madhuri has over 25 years of impressive experience in technology-related industries. She was appointed President of GDI in March 2010. She is responsible for strategic development and growth of Professional Services and Solutions business at GDI.

In July 2009, following the Soft-Link merger with GDI, Madhuri joined GDI Management team as Executive Vice-President and COO of GDI. At Soft-Link, she served as President, where she was involved in leading the start-up operation to Inc 5000 award, Washtenaw FastTrak, Future 50 of Greater Detroit awards in less than 8 years. Her earlier experience is in Software modeling, design, development and project management which led to her successful transition as a leader in talent assessment and placement for technology services.

Ms. Deshpande has been involved with the Association of Women in Computing (AWC) and Michigan Council for Women in Technology MCWT. She is actively involved with mentoring young women to enter technology fields.

George Levy
Executive Vice President and CFO

George Levy earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA in 1968 and joined the General Electric R&D Center. After five years and publication of his first book, he moved into academia. George continued his career in academia as a professor for over 20 years. During his tenure, he taught in the Chemistry and Biophysics programs, as well as in an interdisciplinary graduate Entrepreneurship program.

At the beginning of the second decade of his academic career, George and his wife started a software firm that became an Inc. 500 company in 1989. That same year the company was sold, providing its investors with a profitable exit. The process of growing his first company enhanced his interest in entrepreneurship and developing technology businesses.

George offers broad experience in corporate and financial strategy and vast knowledge of how businesses work. GDI is George's fourth Inc. 500 company.

Mark Fontana
Vice President, Client Services & Financial Services Practice

Mark Fontana serves as our Vice President of Client Services and Financial Service Practice.

Mark has over 15 years of experience in IT fields. He has worked as a Practice Director at Commerce One in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In this position, he served both as an Operations and Engagement leader. At Commerce One, Mark helped clients such as CF Stinson, Toronto Dominion, Entergy and DaimlerChrysler to utilize the strengths of Commerce One’s core applications and services. Prior to Commerce One, Mark was a General Manager and Director of Operations at Bowne Internet Solutions and a Software Development Lead at Ford Motor Credit in Dearborn, Michigan where he developed the world’s first Internet-based commercial paper trading application.

Mark holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Michigan State University.

Bhushan Kulkarni
Chairman, BOD

Bhushan started GDI in April 1993, and he has grown GDI Infotech from a start-up to a profitable business solutions provider. Bhushan’s team-building and open-book approach to management has had a powerfully positive effect on the company’s development. This approach has allowed Bhushan to build a dynamic management team and respond to an ever-changing market by building new and innovative solutions.

Bhushan was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Michigan Technology Services for 2001. He has received the American Dreamer Award, "40 under 40" recognition and has been listed in Who’s Who in Technology Services by Crain’s Business Weekly Magazine. He strongly believes in giving back to the community and he has served / is serving on boards of several non-profit organizations in Michigan very actively. Some of these organizations include Ann Arbor SPARK, Ann Arbor Foundation, Walsh College, Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce, Ann Arbor IT Zone, Ann Arbor Art Center, Information Technology Association of Michigan (ITEAM) and the American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEI).

Bhushan was born in India and came to the United States in 1985 to pursue graduate studies at West Virginia University. After earning his M.S. in Engineering, he joined the Ford Motor Company as a Project Engineer before embarking on exciting journey of entrepreneurship. His ventures besides GDI include InTouch Communications (a Telecommunication Systems and Software company), and other two start-ups for Voice processing Software Development and CAD/CAM/CAE Services.

Harold ‘Red’ Poling
Former CEO, Ford Motor Company

Born in Michigan, Harold "Red" Poling grew up in Fairfax, Virginia as one of four children of an auto mechanic and a nurse. No stranger to hard work, he started working at age 12, cutting and laying sod, as well as helping his father at work. At 17, two weeks after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Navy. Later, after finishing his MBA in accounting, he took a job with Ford in 1951.

Harold was elected chairman of Ford Motor Company in March 1990 and held that position until his retirement in 1994. Beginning in 1964, he held various executive management positions within the company, including leadership of Ford of Europe and Ford North American Automotive Operations. As head of Ford of Europe, he guided the subsidiary to record earnings. Harold was named President and Chief Operating Officer of Ford of Europe in 1985 and Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer in 1987. He was elected to the Ford Board of Directors in 1979.

Harold is currently a Director of Shell Oil Company, Flint Ink Corp., Kellogg Company, Meritor Automotive Inc. and Thermadyne Holdings Corp. He is a Board Consultant for The LTV Corp., serves on the Investment Banking Advisory Board of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and is a member of the Board of Directors and a Trustee of William Beaumont Hospital.

Robert Eaton
Former CEO, Chrysler Corporation

Robert Eaton grew up in the small Kansas town of Arkansas City before he went to KU and then became CEO of Chrysler's company, now called DaimlerChrysler AG.

Robert is the retired Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG, a manufacturer of automobiles and has previously been the Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG from 1998 until 2000, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Chrysler Corporation from 1993 until 1998 and Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Chrysler Corporation from 1992 until 1993.

Other directorships and memberships Robert has been involved with are as a Fellow in the Society of Automotive Engineers, a Fellow in the Engineering Society of Detroit and in the National Academy of Engineering.

George Levy
Executive Vice President and CFO

George Levy earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA in 1968 and joined the General Electric R&D Center. After five years and publication of his first book, he moved into academia. George continued his career in academia as a professor for over 20 years. During his tenure, he taught in the Chemistry and Biophysics programs, as well as in an interdisciplinary graduate Entrepreneurship program.

At the beginning of the second decade of his academic career, George and his wife started a software firm that became an Inc. 500 company in 1989. That same year the company was sold, providing its investors with a profitable exit. The process of growing his first company enhanced his interest in entrepreneurship and developing technology businesses.

George offers broad experience in corporate and financial strategy and vast knowledge of how businesses work. GDI is George's fourth Inc. 500 company.

Richard “Dick” Beedon
Chairman, uRefer

Richard (Dick) Beedon is a seasoned business leader and serial entrepreneur, who successfully built two internet-based companies: University Netcasting, at one time the fourth largest sports site on the web, which he merged with Student Advantage and took public in 1999, and Entyre, a business process management applications provider serving the mortgage industry that he grew substantially and sold to Wolters Kleuer in 2005.

Through his previous experience at IBM and Prime Computer, Dick has demonstrated expertise in developing both solution-oriented sales processes and successful lead generation programs.

In addition to his expertise in sales and marketing and demonstrated success in growing companies, Dick brings an extensive network of human capital and demonstrated ability to raise funding. Dick is a graduate of the University of Michigan.