Altium, a global leader in electronics design systems, announced the appointment of Don Cantow as General Manager of Altium, effective January 1, 2026.
In his role as General Manager, Mr. Cantow will be central to accelerating Altium’s adoption as an industry platform, while safeguarding its openness and accessibility across the global electronics ecosystem, spanning semiconductor companies and the broader EDA and ECAD community.
Following the acquisition of Altium by Renesas Electronics Corporation (“Renesas”, TSE: 6723) in 2024, the company has been advancing a bold strategy to accelerate the digitalization of the electronics industry. Altium has evolved into a platform-first business, extending its electronic design software, Altium Designer, and its cloud-based collaboration platform, Altium 365, with electronics system design and lifecycle management capabilities to support the development of software-defined products.
Altium remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas and will continue to operate under its existing legal entity. Mr. Cantow will report to Aram Mirkazemi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Renesas Software & Digitalization Product Group.
“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, Senior Vice President, Software & Digitalization at Renesas. “Don is uniquely prepared to advance that vision. His breadth of industry experience and his strength in strategic partnership are exactly what is required to drive broad industry adoption and take Altium into its next phase.”
Mr. Cantow brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the electronics industry. He spent over two decades at Mentor Graphics, where he held senior roles during the company’s growth into a global, enterprise-scale leader, leading worldwide enterprise engagements and strategic customer relationships. He also held key strategic sales and marketing roles at Texas Instruments, gaining direct experience within the semiconductor industry. Over the past eight years at Altium, he has played a central role in building the company’s enterprise business and strategic partnerships.
“I am honored to take on this role as General Manager of Altium at such a pivotal moment for Altium and the Electronic Industry,” said Mr. Cantow. “The convergence of electronic design, cloud platforms, and semiconductor innovation creates a unique opportunity to redefine how the industry designs and delivers products. It also provides a unique opportunity to modernize how the industry engages – and to accelerate engagement to match the pace of innovation. I look forward to working with our customers and partners to realize that vision.”
Mr. Cantow holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Connecticut and has completed executive education programs at MIT Sloan School of Management and Columbia Business School.
