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SAP executive named Mozilla CEO

Gary Kovacs has ample mobile experience

The Mozilla Corporation announced Thursday that SAP executive Gary Kovacs is its new CEO, a move that gives the Firefox Web browser backer a leader with ample experience in mobile software.

Kovacs, who starts his new job in November, is a senior vice president of markets, solutions and products at SAP, having arrived there through its acquisition of Sybase. He was previously general manager and vice president of mobile and devices at Adobe, and also held positions at Macromedia and IBM.

Kovacs succeeds John Lilly, who earlier this year announced plans to step back from the Mozilla job in order to focus on venture capitalism. Lilly heaped praise and expectations on Kovacs in a blog post on Thursday.

"He's got deep background in the battlefields that will define the future of the Open Web: mobile and rich media, and he's been involved in building great organizations several times over," Lilly wrote. Mobility is "an incredibly important area where we've got a lot to prove in the coming years," he added.

Kovacs also combines "the fundamentals of a good executive with a powerful understanding that Mozilla's non-profit, public benefit mission drives everything we do," Lilly added.

Mozilla is planning to hold a public Q&A session regarding Kovacs' appointment on Friday at 10 a.m. PDT.

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More about: Adobe, IBM, IBM Australia, Macromedia, Mozilla, SAP, Sybase
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