PEABODY, Mass., - February 14, 2001 -ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the leading provider of paper-to-digital solutions for desktop, network and corporate workgroups software, today announced a key addition to its senior management team. Former AvantGo and Adobe executive John Capurso has joined ScanSoft as Vice President of Sales. Capurso will be responsible for North America and the Pacific Rim, leading the company's world-class sales effort in these two important regions. "We are very excited about our ability to attract this kind of talent into our company. John is a seasoned sales executive with the experience to help us build our sales channels and deliver on our 2001 revenue objectives," said Wayne Crandall, ScanSoft's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "John is taking on a key role at a very important time in ScanSoft's history and will be instrumental as we continue to build ScanSoft as the defacto leader in paper-to-digital solutions worldwide." Capurso brings to ScanSoft almost 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Most recently he worked in channel sales at AvantGo, Inc., where he successfully created a new sales channel for the company targeting software resellers, VARs, ASPs, and System Integrators. Prior to AvantGo, Capurso spent nine years at Adobe Systems in a series of increasingly senior management positions. He began his career as the OEM Sales Manager, responsible for software licensing and selling integrated technology solutions using Adobe's PostScript printing, publishing, Internet, and document technologies.