SAN RAMON, Calif.- Accela, the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for government, announced today that Gary Kovacs has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Kovacs brings decades of enterprise software, cloud and mobile technology leadership and executive management experience to Accela. Gary will focus on enhancing the customer experience, accelerating SaaS transformation for both Accela and its customers, working with Accela’s veteran leadership team, and growing the company’s partner community to deliver innovative products and services to all customer segments.
“Accela offers an enviable combination of market leadership and vision, a loyal and growing customer base, and tremendous expansion and growth opportunities in the United States and abroad,” said Gary Kovacs, Accela CEO. “I’m inspired by the work our customers do every day to create communities that are thriving, safe and inviting. This is an exciting time to join the company and I look forward to working with our customers, partner community, employees and investors to lead Accela on its continued path of being a world-class technology provider for governments of all sizes.”
Kovacs has deep experience at the helm of fast growing, successful companies at the forefront of innovative technologies. Most recently, he was the CEO of AVG Technologies, a global leader in consumer and enterprise security software. Prior to this, Gary was CEO of Mozilla, where he led the overall direction of the organization and the development and delivery of the Firefox browser and cloud services used by over 500 million people worldwide. He has held senior executive positions at SAP (Sybase), Adobe (Macromedia) and IBM. He started his career in software with the founding and growth of Zi Corporation, a groundbreaking mobile messaging company, from inception to IPO to global scale.
Accela and Gary will further help governments modernize to meet the 21st century needs of residents and businesses by helping government agencies of all sizes move to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions and with further migration to the cloud and mobile. One of the reasons Gary Kovacs chose to join Accela because he wants to continue use technology solutions to help improve local communities.
“As was evident during this year’s Accelarate conference, I saw first-hand the transformative power that Accela’s solutions offer governments of all sizes to improve communities,” said Aneesh Chopra, the first United States chief technology officer and president of CareJourney. “Collaborating to improve responsiveness and outcomes is key to modernizing government and Accela is well positioned to build on its leadership position to drive critical innovation and efficiency throughout the public sector.”
Gary is a frequent public speaker and has delivered keynote addresses at TED, the World Economic Forum (Davos & Shenzen), Mobile World Congress, Clinton Global Initiative, F.ounders, All things Digital /Code/ Re/Code, Fortune Brainstorm, among many others. He is a board member for numerous technology companies and not-for-profits including Make-A-Wish, Runway Capital, and serves on the advisory boards of Docusign and the University of Calgary.
Today’s new CEO announcement is an important step in the continued growth and investment in the Company’s commitment to better serve its customers and the citizens they serve. In late 2017, Accela received a significant investment to accelerate Accela’s market leadership, product road map, and customer support capabilities. In March of 2018, Accela launched SaaS solutions designed to modernize and improve the service delivery of state and local governments. SaaS offerings provide radically faster time to deployment and lower total cost of ownership compared to traditional solutions. In September, Accela announced a global go-to market collaboration with Microsoft that will enhance and further promote Accela’s solutions. Accela’s government customers will leverage Accela’s industry-focused solutions with Microsoft Azure. During the last 18 months, Accela also strengthened its leadership team to best serve its customers rapidly evolving needs with the hiring of a number of technology veterans. Last month, Accela announced the opening of a new office in Dublin, Ireland to help us attract the best talent and accelerate smart government solutions worldwide.
“Gary has a remarkable record of driving and delivering success at high-performing technology companies and we are excited to support him in doing the same at Accela,” said Edward (EJ) Whelan, Accela Chairman of the Board. “His experience and leadership in mobile adoption, business partnerships, and customer experience will continue to position Accela as the industry leader in the market.”
More about Kovacs’ experience is available here.
About Accela
Accela provides market-leading SaaS solutions that empower state and local governments to build thriving communities, grow businesses and protect citizens. Powered by Microsoft Azure, Accela’s open and flexible technology helps agencies address specific needs today, while ensuring they are prepared for any emerging or complex challenges in the future. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with additional offices around the world. For more information, visit www.accela.com
