Adobe Systems CEO's Hyderabad connection comes in handy for KTR

Telangana state IT minister K T Rama Rao, who is in the US on a two-week visit to pitch for investments from the  companies there, invoked the old links a couple of CEOs have with Hyderabad to elicit a positive response from them.

On his trip to Silicon Valley, Rao met US multinational software company,  Adobe Systems’ CEO Shantanu Narayen, who hails from Hyderabad and did his schooling from Hyderabad Public School (HPS) where Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella too studied.

Narayen told the minister that his was a true Hyderabadi and would extend all possible cooperation for development of the city. “Mr Shantanu Narayen assured that the city would definitely be factored into their growth plans,” a statement from the minister’s office said.

Among those he met in Silicon Valley was Keerti Melkote, founder of Aruba Networks, which was  acquired by HP in a $3-billion deal in March this year. Melkote is the son of noted Telangana Parliamentarian G S Melkote, who was also a veteran  of 1969 separate Telangana movement.

Besides his grandfather’s political legacy with Hyderabad where a park in the city has been named after him, Keerti had his early education from the city. He studied in the Nrupatunga College which was founded in 1969 by Karnataka Sikshana Samiti.

He invited Keerti and venture capitalist Kanwal Rekhi to be a part of the T-Hub, a startup incubation initiative launched by the state government.