Adams grew up in Sweden and France before moving to the United Kingdom at the age of 10 with his parents.

This brought him to live in Mongolia for six years, and to travel to the Philippines, China, Slovakia and D.R.

He also lived in Switzerland and China before moving to Harrisonburg, Virginia in the United States in 2003.

[2] After graduating from business school, Adams met the leaders of Rosetta Stone (then Fairfield & Sons Ltd.) and in February 2003 became chief executive of the company.

[3][4][5] He was the president and founder of Workaround, a tech incubator based in Washington, D.C.; co-founder and chairman of Pedago, an educational technology company; and founder and chairman of the board of Bizy, a business management technology company.