Marissa Mayer intends to restore Yahoo’s stature as a technological innovator and will not shy away from tough competition to that end, the former Googleexecutive told the Financial Times as she begins her tenure as the struggling web portal’s latest chief executive.

Ms Mayer’s plans for her first months at Yahoo also include the birth of her first child. One of the technology industry’s few female chief executives, she tweeted that she and her husband Zack Bogue, an internet investor, are expecting a baby boy in October. She told Fortune magazine that she will work through her maternity leave, lasting “a few weeks”, and that Yahoo’s board was informed of her pregnancy.

The 37-year-old Wisconsinite indicated she was ready to compete with her former employer on tough battlegrounds such as search, while defending her understanding of the advertising industry upon which Yahoo’s revenues rely.