Shantanu Narayen is an Indian-American business executive. He was born in the Telugu States in Hyderabad on May 27, 1963. Narayen grew up in Hyderabad in a Telugu-speaking family. Narayen was the second son of a mother who taught American literature and a father who ran a plastic company.
Narayen studied his early 10th standard at Hyderabad Public School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering from the University College of Osmania University, in Hyderabad. In 1986 Narayen joined a Silicon Valley start-up called Measurex Automation Systems, which made computer control systems for automotive and electronics customers. He then moved to Apple, where he was in senior management positions from 1989 to 1995.
He moved to the United States to complete his education, and in 1986 received a master’s degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio later he received an MBA from Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. In 1998, he was hired by Abode as a senior vice president of worldwide product research. In the ensuing years, he rose through the ranks swiftly and in November 2007, was appointed to his current post. Guided by Narayen, Adobe has made a dramatic turnaround in recent years and has become a global brand with products used by the majority of technology consumers. Besides this, he holds five patents and often attends industry and academic events across the world as a keynote speaker. In 2011, former American President Barack Obama formally accepted him as a member of his Management Advisory Board.
In the mid-1990s, during the period known as the ‘Internet Boom’, he and his associates came up with the idea of an image-sharing website and in 1996, Pictra Inc., one of the first picture-sharing websites, was born. They realized that the world is ultimately going to upgrade from analog to digital photography and built an ecosystem that let clients drop off their roll of film and get digital pictures. However, after 12 to 14 months, it was apparent to them that the funding and business model had not quite matured.
During his tenure at Apple, he was mentored by Gursharan Singh Sandhu of Apple Talk, from whom he learned how to challenge others and oneself. After Apple, he briefly served as the director of desktop and collaboration products for Silicon Graphics.
In 1998, he came to Adobe Systems as a senior vice president of worldwide product research and in time, became the chief vice president of worldwide products. In November 2007, it was announced that Bruce Chizen would resign as CEO on 1 December. Aged 45, Narayen assumed his current position as the Chief Executive Officer of Adobe Systems, replacing Chizen. Due to his incredible work ethic and extensive understanding of the technology sector, it took him only a decade to rise to the top position at one of the biggest companies in the industry. A central figure in Adobe’s success, Narayen has made Adobe a necessary tool for all sites and apps and has secured over 350 deals for them. In 2005, he played a key role in Adobe’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Macromedia (which developed Flash) and in 2009, in the $1.8 billion takeover of Omniture.