Adobe's new CEO zeroes in on Web

— -- Narayen takes over as Adobe, best known for Photoshop photo software and Acrobat and PDF digital document tools, is shifting many of its wares from boxed software to online services.

Adobe, which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Dec. 13, is a Web powerhouse with its Adobe Reader and Flash software. Narayen spoke with USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham about Adobe's transition, and why he believes two new initiatives for 2008 — Adobe's Media Player and AIR, which connects desktop applications with the Web — have the potential to transform the $3 billion company.

Q: Let's start by talking about your background. I understand you grew up in India and are an engineer by training?

A: I have two engineering degrees and a business degree. I worked in the networking group at Apple and then joined Silicon Graphics. In 1995, everyone was doing start-ups. I wanted to help transfer analog photography to digital and co-founded a company called Pictra. We were a little ahead of our time and ended up partnering with Adobe. I joined Adobe in 1998, running the engineering technology group. Bruce started asking me to do more, and as he's grown, so have I.

Q: Do you still think of yourself as an engineer?

A: I've been running products and marketing since 2001, but building great products is my first love.

Q: Adobe is in an interesting place right now. The company is making a transition from boxed software to online, "cloud" computing. Can you talk about that?

A: We want to marry the power of the desktop with the Web.

Q: You're talking about AIR, Adobe's new desktop-meets-the-Internet application?

A: Yes. Look at what (Apple's) iTunes does, you never know when you're online or offline. For the user, it's a seamless experience. We want to overcome some of the barriers that exist with a browser, to let people access maps, recipes and sports scores, for instance, in an application that sits on your desktop.