Adobe has named Indian technology executive Anil Chakravarthy as president and CEO and the leadership transition will take effect on December 1, 2026.
Adobe has appointed an Indian-born technology executive Anil Chakravarthy as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company in a major change. Chakravarthy will be officially appointed on December 1, 2026, and will succeed Shantanu Narayen who has been leading the US-based software company for the past several years.
As part of the transition, Narayen will step down as CEO and take over as the Executive Chair of Adobe’s Board and will be closely working with Chakravarthy to ensure a smooth leadership transition and the company’s strategic direction.
Narayen has been instrumental in Adobe’s transformation into one of the world’s leading software and digital experience companies. Adobe has expanded its product portfolio beyond traditional creative software in all areas of digital experience, cloud-based services and artificial intelligence during his time so far; he is the one who has developed that product for Adobe to be a very influential and profitable company in this space.
Adobe’s Board of Directors voted in Chakravarthy as the right choice after a search for the company’s next chief executive. His wide-ranging experience in enterprise technology, cloud platforms, artificial intelligence and customer experience will be key to Adobe’s next phase of growth.
Narayen praised Chakravarthy’s leadership and knowledge of Adobe’s business and said he was an experienced transformational leader with a strong record of providing products to customers across industries. He also said Chakravarthy is the right person to lead Adobe into the technology curve of today and in the future in AI.
Who Is Anil Chakravarthy?
Anil Chakravarthy has been with Adobe since January 2020 and currently leads the company’s Customer Experience Orchestration business as well as its worldwide field operations. He has been involved in Adobe’s efforts to help businesses deliver more personalised and effective customer experiences through technology over the past several years.
Chakravarthy has worked at Adobe on the expansion of Adobe Experience Platform and several artificial intelligence-powered initiatives. His skills in combining enterprise software with data and AI tools have made him an integral member of Adobe’s leadership team.
Before joining Adobe, Chakravarthy was CEO of enterprise cloud data company Informatica for around four years. He also held senior leadership positions at large technology companies such as Symantec and VeriSign. He worked with global consulting firm McKinsey & Company before and had experience with technology and business strategy.
Anil Chakravarthy's Education
Chakravarthy is a computer science and technology graduate and an alumnus of the Institute of Technology, Varanasi where he completed his B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering.
He later returned to the United States to study at MIT for higher education, from which Chakravarthy received a Master’s degree and a PhD, further cementing his capability in technology and computer science.
Chakravarthy To Lead Adobe In The AI Era
In the software industry, Chakravarthy’s appointment comes at a critical time for Adobe as artificial intelligence has become increasingly central. Adobe has been incorporating AI capabilities in its creative, productivity and customer experience products and also exploring the potential of AI agents and agentic software.
Chakravarthy said that he was honored to lead Adobe at what he described as a watershed moment in his career as a leader. He cited growth and the potential to lead Adobe to be ahead of the curve in the next generation of agentic software with more creativity, productivity and customer service in the next generation of creative, productivity and user experience with the future in the agentic software.
He also said Narayen’s leadership helped change Adobe’s business model and positioned the company for future growth.
The transition marks the beginning of a new chapter for Adobe. Narayen will continue working as Executive Chair, but Chakravarthy will be in charge of driving the company’s operations and strategy as artificial intelligence takes over the world of software.
As an enterprise software architect with experience in cloud data, customer experience and AI, Chakravarthy’s appointment signals Adobe’s intention to stay focused on innovation and to be more active in the rapidly growing AI ecosystem.
