Prith Banerjee | Forttuna Council Member

Skills

Technology Innovation, AI & Electronic Design Automation Global R&D Leadership & Corporate Innovation Strategy Academic Research, Entrepreneurship & Technology Commercialization

About

Prith Banerjee is a globally recognised technology executive, innovator, academic, and entrepreneur with extensive leadership experience spanning electronic design automation, artificial intelligence, engineering software, parallel computing, and corporate research and development. He currently serves as Senior Vice President of Innovation at Synopsys, where he fosters innovation across EDA, Simulation & Analysis, and semiconductor IP.

Company details

Synopsys

Company Bio

Synopsys is a global leader in engineering solutions spanning silicon to systems, helping technology innovators design and develop increasingly complex, AI-powered products. Established in 1986, the company is a major provider of electronic design automation (EDA), semiconductor intellectual property (IP), simulation and analysis solutions, and engineering services. Its technologies enable organizations to design, verify, optimize, and manufacture advanced chips and intelligent systems while improving performance, reliability, and development efficiency. Synopsys serves customers across industries including semiconductors, automotive, aerospace, data centers, mobile technology, and artificial intelligence.

With approximately 28,000 employees globally, Synopsys combines deep engineering expertise with significant investment in research and development to address increasingly sophisticated technology challenges. Its portfolio supports advanced-node chip design, multi-die systems, AI-driven engineering, digital twins, and multiphysics analysis, while its silicon-proven IP helps customers reduce development risk and accelerate time-to-market. Through continuous innovation and close collaboration with customers, Synopsys plays a fundamental role in enabling the next generation of intelligent, connected, and software-defined products.

About

Throughout his distinguished career, Prith has held senior technology leadership positions at some of the world’s most prominent organisations. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer at ANSYS, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Schneider Electric, Managing Director of Global Technology R&D at Accenture, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President at ABB, and Director of HP Labs. Across these roles, he has led global research, technology, and innovation initiatives focused on translating emerging technologies into meaningful business and industry impact.

Alongside his corporate leadership, Prith has built an accomplished academic career. He previously served as Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago, as the Walter P. Murphy Professor and Chairman of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northwestern University, and as a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on electronic design automation and parallel computing. He has authored more than 350 research papers and two books while supervising 37 Ph.D. students.

An accomplished entrepreneur, Prith founded AccelChip in 2000, which was subsequently acquired by Xilinx in 2006. He also served as Founder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of BINACHIP from 2005 to 2011. His experience further extends to corporate governance and strategic advisory roles, having served on the boards of organisations including Cray, Cubic Corporation, Turntide Technologies, and the Anita Borg Institute, as well as technical advisory boards for several technology companies.

Prith is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and National Academy of Inventors. His numerous honours include the IEEE Taylor L. Booth Education Award, ASEE Frederick Emmons Terman Award, and NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award.

He is also the author of Innovation Factory, which explores how large organisations can collaborate with academia and startups to drive long-term disruptive innovation. Prith earned his B.Tech. in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, where he was a President’s Gold Medalist, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.