California-based Altium has named Don Cantow as its new General Manager, effective January 1, 2026, as the electronics design software company continues to reposition itself as a platform provider for the global electronics industry. The appointment follows Altium’s acquisition by Renesas Electronics Corporation in 2024 and reflects the company’s focus on accelerating industry-wide digitalisation.
In his new role, Cantow will be responsible for driving broader adoption of Altium as an industry platform while maintaining its openness across the electronics ecosystem. This includes engagement with semiconductor manufacturers, electronic design automation (EDA) vendors, and the wider ECAD community. He will report to Aram Mirkazemi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Renesas’ Software & Digitalization Product Group.
Since joining the Renesas Group, Altium has expanded its scope beyond traditional electronic design tools. The company has been extending its core offerings—Altium Designer and the cloud-based Altium 365 platform—to include electronics system design and lifecycle management capabilities. These additions are intended to support the development of software-defined products, where tighter integration between hardware, software, and silicon has become increasingly critical.
Although owned by Renesas, Altium continues to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary under its existing legal structure. Company leadership has emphasized continuity in its long-term vision of building a common digital backbone that connects organizations across the electronics value chain, from large enterprises to smaller design teams.
“Altium has a long-held vision of becoming an industry platform that connects the entire electronics ecosystem—large and small—around a common digital backbone,” said Aram Mirkazemi. He said Cantow’s experience in enterprise-scale engagement and partnership development would be key to advancing that vision and supporting broader adoption.
Cantow brings more than three decades of experience in the electronics and semiconductor industries. He spent over 20 years at Mentor Graphics, where he held senior leadership roles during the company’s evolution into a global EDA provider, managing enterprise customers and strategic relationships. He later held senior sales and marketing roles at Texas Instruments, gaining direct insight into semiconductor product development and go-to-market strategies.
At Altium, Cantow has spent the past eight years building the company’s enterprise business and strengthening partnerships across the industry. His work has focused on expanding Altium’s presence among large-scale customers while aligning its tools more closely with modern, cloud-enabled design workflows.
Commenting on his appointment, Cantow said the convergence of electronic design, cloud platforms, and semiconductor innovation is reshaping the way products are developed and delivered. He added that the industry also faces the need to modernise how companies collaborate and engage as innovation cycles continue to shorten.
Cantow holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Connecticut and has completed executive education programmes at MIT Sloan School of Management and Columbia Business School.
