Technology >> CEO Interviews >> January 3, 2003
DAVID A. KRALL is President and Chief Executive Officer of Avid
Technology, Inc. He joined Avid in October 1999 and was named to
his current position in April 2000. Under Mr. Krall's direction,
Avid has undergone a transformation from an editing tools company
to a more diverse player with products that support all the
industries that make, manage and move media. This includes strong
inroads into media storage, networking and media streaming, as
well as major industry advancements in Avid's core post-
productions, broadcasting, audio and 3D/animation product lines.
Before assuming his role at Avid, he served as Chief Operating
Officer at Digidesign, Avid's audio division. Under his
operational leadership, Digidesign posted record growth and
profit, expanded into new markets and became the standard for
professional audio editing in the music, television and film
industries. Mr. Krall joined Digidesign in 1995 as Director of
Program Management and was later promoted to Vice President of
Engineering. Prior to Digidesign, he was a program manager for
Acuson Corporation, a California-based company, where he led the
development team for the Sequoia 512, Acuson's premier digital
ultrasound machine. Mr. Krall holds a Bachelor of Science and a
Master's in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and received a Master's in Business
Administration, with distinction, from the Harvard Business
School. Profile
TWST: Could we begin with a brief historical sketch of AvidTechnology and then a picture of what you're doing at the present
time?
Mr. Krall: The company was founded in 1987 by some folks out