Shantanu Narayen

International desktop software giant Adobe has announced promotion of Shantanu Narayen to newly-created position of president and chief operating officer.

Narayen, a 41-year-old electronic engineer who received his graduate degree from Osmania University in Hyderabad, will be responsible for engineering, product marketing and sales of Adobe software solutions for professional, consumer and enterprise customers.

Previously, he was executive vice president for worldwide products, a post he has held since 2001.

“During the past three years, Shantanu has worked closely with me running the day-to-day operations of Adobe’s global business,” said Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen.

“Under his leadership, Adobe has defined and implemented the product and marketing strategies that are driving our current growth,” added Chizen who himself will sharpen his focus on the longer term strategies aimed at fueling the firm's future growth.

Narayan was quoted as saying in news reports that Adobe has been quite successful for the last two years, having increased its revenue by 29 percent last year. The challenge in the coming days, he added, would be to sustain Adobe’s impressive performance and grow the company further.

Adobe has been upbeat about its plans for India, as was evident from its choice of this country for its largest development center outside the United States. It was also the first software firm to have developed a product, right from its initial stages, through to its final form, in India.

Highlighting the importance of the Indian market, Narayen said India as well as China are important emerging markets.

Narayen earlier held the post of senior vice president in charge of worldwide product development, where he successfully oversaw all worldwide research and development for Adobe’s award-winning products. He also held positions as vice president and general manager of Adobe’s engineering technology group where he helped grow the Adobe India development center and started the Product Technology Integration Group to focus on customer workflows.

Before joining Adobe in 1998, Narayen co-founded Pictra Inc., a digital photo sharing software business. Prior to that, he was director of desktop and collaboration products at Silicon Graphics Inc. and, before that, held various senior management positions at Apple Computer, Inc.

Narayen, who holds five patents, has a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from Osmania University, and a master’s degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University. He also holds a master’s degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, where he currently serves on the advisory board.

(Compiled from a press release by Charles Isaac)