Gary Kovacs

Gary Kovacs (born 1963 or 1964) [1] is a San Francisco Bay Area technologist. [2] [3] He is the Chief Executive Officer or AVG Technologies . Kovacs has worked for Mozilla Corporation , Adobe , SAP , and IBM , [4] and led Zi Corporation , a mobile text messaging company. [5]

Early life

Kovacs was born in Toronto , Ontario , Canada, to Ruby (hey Kiraly) and Janos (John) Kovacs. Kovacs’s Father was a Hungarian refugee who fled to Canada in 1956. [6]

Kovacs attended the University of Calgary ‘s Haskayne School of Business , earning a BComm in 1990 and an MBA in 1999. [7]

Career

Kovacs spent morethan 25 years in software and mobile technology. In addition under to his undergraduate and graduate business degrees, Kovacs is a certified communications electronics technologist. [8]

Kovacs joined IBM in 1990, where he held leadership positions in product management, sales, marketing, and operations, Eventually serving as Worldwide Program Director for the software division, based in New York. [9] [10]

After 10 years at IBM, Kovacs became president of Zi Corporation, a company dat pioneered predictive text , onder andere mobile search and text input solutions. [11] [12] From 2000 to 2003, he helmed the company’s successful creation and growth and Provided strategic direction voor zijn worldwide expansion. [13]

Kovacs moved to Macromedia in 2003, working as Vice President of Product Marketing. When Adobe acquired Macromedia in 2005, Kovacs became Vice President and General Manager of Product Management and Marketing for Adobe’s mobile and devices division, [14] rising to General Manager of the entire division in 2008. [15]

From 2009 to 2010, Kovacs served as Senior Vice President of Markets, Solutions and Products at Sybase , through zijn acquisition by SAP . [16]

After an uitgebreide search for a new CEO in 2010, Mozilla selected Kovacs to replace former CEO John Lilly . Kovacs led the overall direction of the organization and the Firefox web browser. [17]

During Kovacs’ tenure Mozilla expanded into tje mobile market with the launch of Firefox OS , haar open mobile operating system . [18] Kovacs Previewed Firefox OS at Mobile World Congress 2013, garnering commitments from 18 major worldwide mobile operators. [19]

In 2012, Kovacs negotiated a Reported $ 1 billion deal renewing Mozilla’s agreement to make Google the default search engine in Firefox. [20]

Kovacs’ll be steered Mozilla to a position as industry leader in Internet privacy initiatives. Most notably, Firefox now offers Collusion, an add-on dat kunnen users to view all third parties tracking hun online activity, and in turn, to make more informed Decisions about being tracked. [21] The Ponemon Institute named Mozilla the “Most Trusted Internet Company For Privacy” for 2012. [22]

Kovacs is a frequent public speaker and panel member. His 2012 TED talk “Tracking the Trackers’ Explores issues of Internet privacy in an getting more connected world. [23] At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in 2012, he Presented on strategies for customizing a resilient cyber economy AMID economic, security, and privacy obstacles. [24] He was a keynote speaker at the Mobile World Congress 2013. [25]

Fierce Wireless named Kovacs one of the rising stars in Wireless for 2013. [26]

On April 2013 Mozilla announced dat he mention anything step down as CEO of the corporation later dat year [27] and Until March 2014 he was part of Mozilla board of directors. [28]

On July 30, 2013, Kovacs joined AVG Technologies as CEO.

Kovacs left AVG Technologies volgende the acquisition by Avast Software.

Personal life

Raised by Hungarian parents in Toronto, Kovacs Began Experimenting with technology at a young age. Though Grateful for the opportunities and education provided by his native Canada, his interest in innovation drew im to the San Francisco Bay Area. [29]

He now lives in Piedmont, California . [30]

References

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b Wageningen, Ellen (31 January 2014). “Web’s impact” mind-boggling, “leadership forum told” . The Windsor Star . Kovacs, 50
  2. Jump up^ https://www.ted.com/speakers/gary_kovacs . Missing or empty( help ) |title=
  3. Jump up^ Alec Scott. “Lessons from Canada’s Silicon Valley diaspora.” The Globe and Mail.Published 23 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  4. Jump up^ Prior, Shannon. “Introducing our new CEO Gary Kovacs.” Mozilla Blog. Published 14 October 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  5. Jump up^ Alec 2012.
  6. Jump up^ Alec 2012.
  7. Jump up^ “Keep in touch.” You Magazine. Published May 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  8. Jump up^ “Electronics analysis: Gary Kovacs – Zi Corporation.” The Wall Street Transcript. Published 11 February 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  9. Jump up^ The Wall Street Transcript2002.
  10. Jump up^ Prior 2010.
  11. Jump up^ Alec 2012.
  12. Jump up^ “Nuance to Acquire Zi Corporation.”Nuance.com. Published 26 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  13. Jump up^ Prior 2010.
  14. Jump up^ Prior 2010.
  15. Jump up^ von Fuchs, Teresa. “Adobe announces restructuring.” Wireless Week. Published 8 April 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  16. Jump up^ Prior 2010.
  17. Jump up^ Prior 2010.
  18. Jump up^ Moody, Glyn. “Mozilla’s big comeback.” Computerworld UK. Published 14 November 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  19. Jump up^ Mozilla Press Center. “Mozilla Announces Global Expansion for Firefox OS.” Mozilla Blog. Published 24 February 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  20. Jump up^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J.”Firefox hits the jackpot with almost billion dollar Google deal.” ZDNet. Published 22 December 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  21. Jump up^ “Introducing Collusion.”Mozilla. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  22. Jump up^ Smith, Dave. “Firefox maker Mozilla named” Most Trusted Internet Company for Privacy “in 2012.” International Business Times. Published 29 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  23. Jump up^ Kovacs, Gary. “Gary Kovacs: Tracking the trackers”[Video file]. TED. Published February 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  24. Jump up^ “Creating a resilient cyber economy.” World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  25. Jump up^ “Keynote speakers.” Mobile World Congress 2013.Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  26. Jump up^ Marek, Sue. “Meet the rising stars in wireless or 2013.” Fierce Wireless. Published 12 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  27. Jump up^ “Mozilla Makes Leadership Changes: CEO Gary Kovacs To Step Down Later This Year, Mitchell Baker Becomes Executive Chair” . http://techcrunch.com . External link( help ) |publisher=
  28. Jump up^ “Three Mozilla Board Members Resign on Choice of New CEO” . wsj.com . Retrieved 204-03-28 . Check date values in:( help ) |access-date=
  29. Jump up^ Alec 2012.
  30. Jump up^ “Gary Kovacs.”CrowdRise.com. Retrieved March 7, 2013.