Adobe announced on 3 September that Anil Chakravarthy, president of its Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, will become president and chief executive on 1 December 2026, with Shantanu Narayen moving to executive chair after nearly two decades in the job.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source 2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source The board's choice was unanimous and followed a special committee process led by independent director Frank Calderoni.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source 3 The Tribune 2026-09-04 Special committee process; GenStudio, CX Enterprise, Brand Visibility; Workfront and Semrush acquisitions under Chakravarthy. Open source Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 to run the enterprise digital experience business, added global sales that September, and has run both since December 2021; before Adobe he spent four years as chief executive of Informatica.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source Our assessment, with high confidence, is that Adobe chose the executive who runs the half of the company AI is not yet eating; with moderate confidence, that this signals a strategy of defending the enterprise franchise while the creative franchise fights Figma and Canva; and with moderate confidence that Narayen's move to executive chair is a genuine transition rather than a ceremonial one, because the operating record of the successor stands on its own.

Who was chosen

Chakravarthy's record at Adobe is an enterprise record. Calderoni credits him with transforming and expanding the Customer Experience Orchestration business over six and a half years, leading AI products including CX Enterprise, GenStudio and Brand Visibility, scaling Adobe Experience Platform, and championing the acquisitions of Workfront and Semrush.3 The Tribune 2026-09-04 Special committee process; GenStudio, CX Enterprise, Brand Visibility; Workfront and Semrush acquisitions under Chakravarthy. Open source 4 Yahoo Finance 2026-09-03 Six and a half years running the enterprise business; Adobe Experience Platform scaled; AI products named. Open source His background before Adobe is enterprise software and consulting: Informatica as chief executive after joining in 2013, and earlier Symantec, VeriSign and McKinsey, with a computer science degree from IIT Varanasi and an MS and PhD from MIT.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source

What he has not run is Creative Cloud, the Photoshop and Illustrator business that made Adobe a household name and that faces the most direct AI pressure. Analytics Insight frames the competitive context as intensified competition from AI focused design platforms such as Figma and Canva, and the company's stated aim as leadership in agentic software across creativity, productivity and customer experience.2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source The new chief executive comes from the third of those.

What the choice implies

Boards choose successors for the problem they think is coming. A creative product leader would have signaled that the fight for Adobe's future is the fight for designers against generative tools. Choosing the enterprise and sales chief signals something else: that the durable value sits in the marketing, analytics and content supply chain systems sold to large companies on multi year contracts, and that the priority is to hold and grow those while the creative business is defended tactically. Chakravarthy's own framing, that he is energized to drive growth in the next era of agentic software for creativity, productivity and customer experience, lists creativity first, but his record lists it last.2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source

The timing is orderly. A three month handover to 1 December with Narayen staying as executive chair is the standard shape of a planned succession, not a departure under pressure.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source The special committee process and the unanimous vote suggest the board considered alternatives and settled on the internal candidate whose numbers it already knew.3 The Tribune 2026-09-04 Special committee process; GenStudio, CX Enterprise, Brand Visibility; Workfront and Semrush acquisitions under Chakravarthy. Open source

Who gains and who loses

Adobe's enterprise customers gain a chief executive who has sold to them for six years and knows their contracts.4 Yahoo Finance 2026-09-03 Six and a half years running the enterprise business; Adobe Experience Platform scaled; AI products named. Open source The Digital Experience organization gains the top job and, presumably, priority. Narayen gains a graceful exit after a tenure that took Adobe from packaged software to subscriptions, and a chair from which to shape the AI transition without running it.2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source

The creative organization loses a chief executive who came from its side of the house, and will read the appointment as a statement about where the board sees growth. Figma and Canva lose nothing today and may gain a competitor whose attention is divided. Informatica, indirectly, gains a former chief executive at the head of a company that buys enterprise data software, which cuts both ways. Shareholders gain continuity and lose the option of an outside change agent, which some will have wanted given the stock's exposure to AI design competition.2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source

The counter case

The assessment that this is a defensive enterprise choice could be wrong if the board's view is that agentic software collapses the distinction between creative and enterprise tools. GenStudio, which Chakravarthy built, is exactly that kind of product: AI generated marketing content at enterprise scale, which is creative software sold to marketers.3 The Tribune 2026-09-04 Special committee process; GenStudio, CX Enterprise, Brand Visibility; Workfront and Semrush acquisitions under Chakravarthy. Open source If the future of Adobe's creative business is content generation for companies rather than tools for individual designers, the enterprise chief is the right creative leader too. It is also possible the fetched coverage overstates the competitive threat; Figma and Canva are named by one outlet and not by Adobe itself.2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source And a planned succession with the founder era chief executive remaining as chair can be either a smooth transfer or a slow one, and the difference will not be visible until the first strategic disagreement.

What to watch

  • First earnings call as chief executive. If the December quarter call in early 2027 leads with Digital Experience growth and agentic enterprise products, the reading here holds; a call led by Creative Cloud and generative tools would suggest the board wanted a unifier, not a specialist.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source
  • Creative Cloud leadership. A new president for the creative business named by the first quarter of 2027, especially from outside Adobe, would show the board knows where the gap is.2 Analytics Insight 2026-09-03 Nearly two decades of Narayen leadership; Figma and Canva named as AI design competition; agentic software framing; formal board process. Open source
  • An acquisition in the first year. Chakravarthy championed Workfront and Semrush; a deal above 1 billion dollars in his first year would confirm the acquisitive instinct and show which side of the house it serves.3 The Tribune 2026-09-04 Special committee process; GenStudio, CX Enterprise, Brand Visibility; Workfront and Semrush acquisitions under Chakravarthy. Open source
  • Narayen's tenure as chair. A chair who steps down within 18 months indicates a clean handover; a longer stay would suggest the board wanted a safety net.1 Adobe 2026-09-03 Effective 1 December 2026; Chakravarthy career dates at Adobe; four years as Informatica CEO; Symantec, VeriSign, McKinsey; IIT Varanasi and MIT; Calderoni, Narayen and Chakravarthy quotes. Open source

Adobe picked the executive who sells to enterprises to lead a company famous for tools for creators. The appointment is the board's answer to which business it expects to still own in 2030.