Gary Kovacs

Last updated
Gary Kovacs
Gary Kovacs at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China, 2012..jpg
Kovacs at the 2012 World Economic Forum
Born1963or1964(age 60–61) [1]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Calgary, Haskayne School of Business
OccupationChief Executive Officer of AVG Technologies

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

Contents

Early life

Kovacs was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Ruby (né Kiraly) and Janos (John) Kovacs. Kovacs's father was a Hungarian refugee who fled to Canada in 1956. [5]

Kovacs attended the University of Calgary's Haskayne School of Business, earning a BComm in 1990 and an MBA in 1999. [6]

Career

Kovacs spent more than 25 years in software and mobile technology. In addition to his undergraduate and graduate business degrees, Kovacs is a certified communications electronics technologist. [7]

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. [8] [9]

After 10 years at IBM, Kovacs became President of Zi Corporation, a company that pioneered predictive text, among other mobile search and text input solutions. [5] [10] From 2000 to 2003, he helmed the company's successful creation and growth and provided strategic direction for its worldwide expansion. [9]

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, [9] rising to General Manager of the entire division in 2008. [11]

From 2009 to 2010, Kovacs served as Senior Vice President of Markets, Solutions, and Products at Sybase, through its acquisition by SAP. [9]

After an extensive 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. [9]

During Kovacs' tenure Mozilla expanded into the mobile market with the launch of Firefox OS, its open mobile operating system. [12] Kovacs previewed Firefox OS at Mobile World Congress 2013, garnering commitments from 18 major worldwide mobile operators. [13]

In 2012, Kovacs negotiated a reported $1 billion deal renewing Mozilla's agreement to make Google the default search engine in Firefox. [14]

Most notably, Firefox now offers Collusion, an add-on that enables users to view all third parties tracking their online activity, and in turn, to make more informed decisions about being tracked. [15] The Ponemon Institute named Mozilla the "Most Trusted Internet Company For Privacy" for 2012. [16]

Kovacs is a frequent public speaker and panel member. His 2012 TED talk "Tracking the Trackers" explores issues of Internet privacy in an increasingly connected world. [17] At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in 2012, he presented on strategies for creating a resilient cyber economy amid economic, security, and privacy obstacles. [18] He was a keynote speaker at the Mobile World Congress 2013. [19]

Fierce Wireless named Kovacs one of the Rising Stars in Wireless for 2013. [20]

In April 2013 Mozilla announced that he would step down as CEO of the corporation later that year [21] and until March 2014 he was part of Mozilla's board of directors. [22]

On July 30, 2013, Kovacs joined [23] AVG Technologies as CEO. In September 2016, AVG Technologies was acquired by Avast Software for US$1.3B. [24] Kovacs employment with AVG Technologies was terminated in December 2016 upon completion of the acquisition. [25]

On Dec. 11, 2018, Kovacs was appointed as CEO [26] of Accela. [27] Accela, which supplies regulatory software to government clients, was acquired by Berkshire Partners LLC, [28] on Sep 28, 2017.

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 him to the San Francisco Bay Area. [5]

He now lives in Piedmont, California. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Flash</span> Discontinued multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to websites

Adobe Flash is a discontinued multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich internet applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players.

A computing platform, digital platform, or software platform is the infrastructure on which software is executed. While the individual components of a computing platform may be obfuscated under layers of abstraction, the summation of the required components comprise the computing platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firefox</span> Free and open-source web browser by Mozilla

Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards. Firefox is available for Windows 10 or later versions, macOS, and Linux. Its unofficial ports are available for various Unix and Unix-like operating systems, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and other platforms. It is also available for Android and iOS. However, as with all other iOS web browsers, the iOS version uses the WebKit layout engine instead of Gecko due to platform requirements. An optimized version is also available on the Amazon Fire TV as one of the two main browsers available with Amazon's Silk Browser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gen Digital</span> Multinational software company

Gen Digital Inc. is a multinational software company co-headquartered in Tempe, Arizona and Prague, Czech Republic. The company provides cybersecurity software and services. Gen is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock-market index. The company also has development centers in Pune, Chennai and Bangalore. Its portfolio includes Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender, and CCleaner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Browser wars</span> Competition between web browsing applications for share of worldwide usage

A browser war is a competition for dominance in the usage share of web browsers. The "first browser war" (1995–2001) consisted of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, and the "second browser war" (2004-2017) between Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AVG AntiVirus</span> Antivirus computer program

AVG AntiVirus is a line of antivirus software developed by AVG Technologies, a subsidiary of Avast, a part of Gen Digital. It is available for Windows, macOS and Android.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Eich</span> American computer scientist and technology executive

Brendan Eich is an American computer programmer and technology executive. He created the JavaScript programming language and co-founded the Mozilla project, the Mozilla Foundation, and the Mozilla Corporation. He served as the Mozilla Corporation's chief technical officer before he was appointed chief executive officer, but resigned shortly after his appointment due to pressure over his firm opposition to same-sex marriage. He subsequently became the CEO of Brave Software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avast</span> Czech security software company

Avast Software s.r.o. is a Czech multinational cybersecurity software company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, that researches and develops computer security software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Avast has more than 435 million monthly active users and the second largest market share among anti-malware application vendors worldwide as of April 2020. The company has approximately 1,700 employees across its 25 offices worldwide. In July 2021, NortonLifeLock, an American cybersecurity company, announced that it was in talks to merge with Avast Software. In August 2021, Avast's board of directors agreed to an offer of US$8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mozilla Corporation</span> American software company

The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Firefox web browser, by a global community of open-source developers, some of whom are employed by the corporation itself. The corporation also distributes and promotes these products. Unlike the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, and the Mozilla open source project, founded by the now defunct Netscape Communications Corporation, the Mozilla Corporation is a taxable entity. The Mozilla Corporation reinvests all of its profits back into the Mozilla projects. The Mozilla Corporation's stated aim is to work towards the Mozilla Foundation's public benefit to "promote choice and innovation on the Internet."

A local shared object (LSO), commonly called a Flash cookie, is a piece of data that websites that use Adobe Flash may store on a user's computer. Local shared objects have been used by all versions of Flash Player since version 6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Silverlight</span> Application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications

Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich internet applications, similar to Adobe's runtime, Adobe Flash. While early versions of Silverlight focused on streaming media, later versions supported multimedia, graphics, and animation, and gave support to developers for CLI languages and development tools. Silverlight was one of the two application development platforms for Windows Phone, but web pages using Silverlight did not run on the Windows Phone or Windows Mobile versions of Internet Explorer, as there was no Silverlight plugin for Internet Explorer on those platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VirusTotal</span> Cybersecurity website owned by Chronicle

VirusTotal is a website created by the Spanish security company Hispasec Sistemas. Launched in June 2004, it was acquired by Google in September 2012. The company's ownership switched in January 2018 to Chronicle, a subsidiary of Google.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AVG Technologies</span> Brand of cybersecurity, privacy, performance and utility applications

AVG Technologies is a brand of cybersecurity, privacy, performance and utility software applications for desktop computers and mobile devices developed by Avast, a part of Gen Digital. AVG was a cybersecurity software company founded in 1991 and it merged into Avast following an acquisition in 2017. It typically offers freeware, earning revenues from advertisers and from users that upgrade to paid versions for access to more features.

Apache Cordova is a mobile application development framework created by Nitobi. Adobe Systems purchased Nitobi in 2011, rebranded it as PhoneGap, and later released an open-source version of the software called Apache Cordova. Apache Cordova enables software programmers to build hybrid web applications for mobile devices using CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript, instead of relying on platform-specific APIs like those in Android, iOS, or Windows Phone. It enables the wrapping up of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript code depending on the platform of the device. It extends the features of HTML and JavaScript to work with the device. The resulting applications are hybrid, meaning that they are neither truly native mobile application nor purely Web-based. They are not native because all layout rendering is done via Web views instead of the platform's native UI framework. They are not Web apps because they are packaged as apps for distribution and have access to native device APIs. Mixing native and hybrid code snippets has been possible since version 1.9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firefox OS</span> Mobile operating system by Mozilla (2014 - 2017)

Firefox OS is a discontinued open-source operating system – made for smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs, and dongles designed by Mozilla and external contributors. It is based on the rendering engine of the Firefox web browser, Gecko, and on the Linux kernel. It was first commercially released in 2013.

Mozilla is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, publishes and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, with only minor exceptions. The community is supported institutionally by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation and its tax-paying subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lightbeam (software)</span> Mozilla Firefox browser add-on

Lightbeam was an add-on for Firefox that displays third party tracking cookies placed on the user's computer while visiting various websites. It displays a graph of the interactions and connections of sites visited and the tracking sites to which they provide information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliqz</span> Web browser developed by Cliqz GmbH

Cliqz was a privacy-oriented web browser and search engine developed by Cliqz GmbH and majority-owned by Hubert Burda Media. It was available as a desktop and mobile web browser as well as an extension for Firefox itself.

Accela is an American private government technology company. It was established in 1999 as a result of a merger with Sierra Computer Systems and Open Data Systems. Accela's platform is used by state and local government agencies in the United States and in other countries.

References

  1. 1 2 van Wageningen, Ellen (31 January 2014). "Web's impact 'mind-boggling,' leadership forum told". The Windsor Star . Kovacs, 50
  2. Kovacs, Gary. "Gary Kovacs | Speaker | TED". www.ted.com.
  3. Alec, Scott. "Lessons from Canada's Silicon Valley diaspora.” The Globe and Mail. Published 23 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  4. Prior, Shannon. "Introducing our new CEO: Gary Kovacs." Mozilla Blog. Published 14 October 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Alec 2012.
  6. “Keep in touch.” Archived 2013-04-07 at archive.today U Magazine. Published May 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  7. “Electronics analysis: Gary Kovacs – Zi Corporation.” The Wall Street Transcript. Published 11 February 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  8. The Wall Street Transcript 2002.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Prior 2010.
  10. “Nuance to acquire Zi Corporation.” Archived 2012-09-05 at the Wayback Machine Nuance.com. Published 26 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  11. von Fuchs, Teresa. "Adobe announces restructuring." Archived 2014-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Wireless Week. Published 8 April 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  12. Moody, Glyn. “Mozilla’s big comeback.” Archived 2012-11-16 at the Wayback Machine Computer World UK. Published 14 November 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  13. Mozilla Press Center. "Mozilla Announces Global Expansion for Firefox OS." Mozilla Blog. Published 24 February 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  14. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. “Firefox hits the jackpot with almost billion dollar Google deal.” ZDNet. Published 22 December 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  15. “Introducing Collusion.” Mozilla. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  16. 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.
  17. Kovacs, Gary. “Gary Kovacs: tracking the trackers” [video file]. TED. Published February 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  18. “Creating a resilient cyber economy.” World Economic Forum. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  19. “Keynote speakers.” Archived 2013-03-08 at the Wayback Machine Mobile World Congress 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  20. Marek, Sue. “Meet the rising stars in wireless of 2013.” Fierce Wireless. Published 12 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  21. "Mozilla Makes Leadership Changes: CEO Gary Kovacs To Step Down Later This Year, Mitchell Baker Becomes Executive Chair". TechCrunch.
  22. Barr, Alistair (28 March 2014). "Three Mozilla Board Members Resign over Choice of New CEO". WSJ.
  23. "AVG Press Center | for Journalists, Bloggers & Partners".
  24. “Avast and AVG become one” Avast Blog. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  25. “Former AVG Technologies USA Inc. CEO alleges he was wrongfully terminated.” Norcal Record. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  26. "Accela Announces Experienced Technology Leader Gary Kovacs as CEO". www.berkshirepartners.com. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  27. "Accela Announces Experienced Technology Leader Gary Kovacs as CEO". Accela. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  28. "Accela gets acquired by Berkshire Partners as it looks to move govtech services to the cloud". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  29. “Gary Kovacs.” CrowdRise.com. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
Preceded by CEO of Mozilla Corporation
8 November 2010 – March 2014
Succeeded by