Gary Kovacs

Gary Kovacs
Kovacs at the 2012 World Economic Forum
Born	1963/1964 (age 53–54) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Residence	Piedmont, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Calgary, Haskayne School of Business
Occupation	Chief Executive Officer of AVG Technologies

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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. From 2000 to 2003, he helmed the company’s successful creation and growth and provided strategic direction for its worldwide expansion.

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, rising to General Manager of the entire division in 2008.