Adobe taps insider Anil Chakravarthy as CEO

Adobe ↘ 3.97% has appointed Anil Chakravarthy as its next president and chief executive officer, effective December 1, 2026, ending Shantanu Narayen's 18-year tenure atop the software giant as the company deepens its push into artificial intelligence.americanbazaaronline+1

Narayen will transition to executive chair and work closely with Chakravarthy during the handover. Chakravarthy will also join Adobe's board of directors. Adobe's stock fell after the announcement, with investors weighing the leadership change ahead of the company's third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings report scheduled for September 10.pulse2+1

An Insider Pick for the AI Era

Chakravarthy, currently president of Adobe's Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, was unanimously selected by the board following what lead independent director Frank Calderoni called "a rigorous selection process".finance.yahoo+1

"Anil is an experienced transformational leader who leads with values, integrity and a deep knowledge of our business," Narayen said in the announcement. "I could not be more confident that Anil is the right person to lead Adobe's growth in an AI-driven era".pulse2

Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager of the Digital Experience business. His responsibilities expanded rapidly — by September 2020 he had taken charge of worldwide field operations, and in December 2021 he was promoted to president of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations. Under his leadership, Adobe developed products including Adobe CX Enterprise, GenStudio and Brand Visibility, and completed the acquisitions and integration of Workfront and Semrush.peoplematters+2

"I'm energized by the opportunity to fuel growth and drive Adobe's leadership in the next era of agentic software for creativity, productivity and customer experience," Chakravarthy said.pulse2

From Informatica to Adobe's Top Job

Before joining Adobe, Chakravarthy served as CEO of Informatica for four years, having originally joined the enterprise cloud data management company in 2013 as executive vice president. He also held senior roles at Symantec, VeriSign and McKinsey & Company. He holds a Bachelor of Technology from the Institute of Technology in Varanasi, India, and a Master of Science and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.americanbazaaronline+1

Market Reaction and What Lies Ahead

Adobe shares declined following the announcement as investors looked ahead to the September 10 earnings report. Wall Street expects Adobe to report earnings of $5.84 per share on revenue of $6.70 billion, compared with $5.31 per share and $5.99 billion a year earlier. The leadership transition arrives as Adobe competes in a fast-moving AI landscape where software companies are racing to embed generative and agentic AI into their products.finance.yahoo+1