Macromedia exec in charge of Adobe tech

Adobe Systems brought the chief technology officer title out of retirement Tuesday and applied it to Kevin Lynch.

Lynch, previously chief software architect and senior vice president of Adobe's platform business unit, joined Adobe in 2005 when it acquired Macromedia, where he led product development.

At Adobe, he'll lead work with Adobe's Flash Player, Flex development tools, and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). Those products are gaining in importance at the California based company.

"Adobe has transformed itself through several technology waves, from desktop publishing, to multimedia and to the Web," said Adobe's new chief executive, Shantanu Narayen, in a statement. "Kevin's insights and passion for rich Internet applications, and what they signify for the future of software across operating systems and devices, will help enable the next generation of innovation for our customers."

Adobe last had a CTO in early 2001, when John Warnock took the title after stepping down as chief executive, Adobe spokeswoman Katie Juran said.

Creative Suite products such as Photoshop are a step removed from Lynch's purview, though. "The CTO role will include core technology that spans across our businesses, and that could include elements that become features in future versions of our applications. But the main development for those applications will continue to be run by the individual business units," Juran said.