Never been a better time to be an entrepreneur, says Adobe CEO

Minister K.T. Rama Rao presenting the CEO of the year award to Shantanu Narayen, Chairman & CEO, Adobe Systems, in Hyderabad on Monday.
| Photo Credit: G RAMAKRISHNA

TiE Global Summit 2022, the latest in the annual flagship series of The Indus Entrepreneurs, got under way in Hyderabad on Monday with Adobe Systems Chairman and CEO Shantanu Narayen’s call to young entrepreneurs to live their dreams, and make most of opportunities driven by emerging technologies.

“There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur,” he said, seeking to highlight the growth potential unfolding on the back of confluence of technology, particularly with medicine and healthcare.

Mr.Narayen, who said he grew up in Hyderabad and still fondly referred by some as manavadu (one of their own), advised entrepreneurs to never take status quo as an answer and stop pursuing their dreams. They they should also look for positives in crises. “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” he said, citing how Adobe’s decision to move to a subscription model, during the Great Recession about 15 years ago, eventually helped it emerge stronger.

In an interaction with TiE Global Board of Trustees Chairman B.J. Arun, after being presented the CEO of the Year award of TiE at the inaugural session of the three-day Summit, the Adobe head said the company may have a relatively smaller presence in Hyderabad, but it hired people big time from the region. The work the company did from Hyderabad was focused on Artificial Intelligence.

“If I was growing up right now, there was no way I would be leaving Hyderabad,” he said, appreciating the efforts of Telangana Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao and Secretary Jayesh Ranjan in terms of “creating an incredible and vibrant environment here in Hyderabad.”

To another query on what he got from the city, he said “it is high school and college education that teaches you how to think.”

Mr. Rama Rao, who inaugurated the Summit, urged the Adobe CEO to consider ramping up investments in the State.

The Minister showcased Telangana, how the State is the vaccine capital of the world, home to second largest campuses/offices of leading technology firms and boosts of the robust innovation ecosystem. The State is also home to 6,500 startups across 50 sectors.

Underscoring the significance of innovation and entrepreneurship, the Minister said “given the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world we live in, innovation is a critical means by which countries can create and sustain competitive advantage and drive inclusive growth. Entrepreneurs create economic value and need to be motivated, cultivated and nurtured to the greatest degree.”

TiE Hyderabad President and Co-Chair of TGS 2022 Suresh Raju said more than 3,000 registrations have been received for the Summit. Vice Chairman of TiE Global and Co-Chair of the Summit Murali Bukkapatnam said 48 TiE chapters are represented at the 7th global summit. He thanked Telangana government for its support in hosting the event.