Anil Chakravarthy to succeed Shantanu Narayen as Adobe CEO from December 2026

Software major Adobe has announced to appoint Anil Chakravarthy as its next president and chief executive officer, succeeding veteran Shantanu Narayen.

Currently president of Adobe’s Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, Chakravarthy will join the Board of Directors effective from December 1, 2026.

Narayen will transition to executive chair and work closely with Chakravarthy to ensure a smooth transition and support Adobe’s ongoing transformation.

“Adobe’s opportunity ahead is limitless with our track record in creating new market categories and world-class products. Anil is an experienced transformational leader who leads with values, integrity and a deep knowledge of our business. He has a proven record of building and delivering category-defining products that serve our broad range of customers,” said Narayen.

“I could not be more confident that Anil is the right person to lead Adobe's growth in an AI-driven era and look forward to working closely with him in my new role as executive chair,” he mentioned in a statement.

Chakravarthy said he is energised by the opportunity to fuel growth and drive Adobe's leadership in the next era of agentic software for creativity, productivity and customer experience.

“Adobe has a history of building the future — not just through our technology, but through our people and our commitment to customers. Thanks to Shantanu's exceptional leadership in transforming Adobe's business model over the decades, we are well positioned to achieve Adobe's next chapter of growth,” the new Adobe CEO said.

Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager leading the Digital Experience business.

In September 2020, he took on the additional responsibility of leading Adobe’s worldwide field operations serving enterprise customers with the full portfolio of Adobe’s products including creativity and productivity.

In December 2021, he was promoted to president of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations.

Prior to his current role, Chakravarthy served as CEO for four years at Informatica, a global leader in enterprise cloud data management.

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