Adobe named Anil Chakravarthy as its next president and chief executive officer on Thursday, tapping a six-year company insider to lead the software maker as it navigates intensifying competition from AI rivals. Chakravarthy will assume the role on December 1 and join Adobe's board of directors.
Chakravarthy currently serves as president of Adobe's Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations. Chakravarthy came aboard in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager of the digital experience unit, expanded his remit to include worldwide field operations before the year was out, and by late 2021 had been elevated to president of digital experience and worldwide field operations, the company said.
Outgoing CEO Shantanu Narayen, who announced in March that he would step down after more than 18 years leading the company, will transition to executive chair. Narayen joined Adobe in 1998, according to CNBC .
"I could not be more confident that Anil is the right person to lead Adobe's growth in an AI-driven era," Narayen said in a statement.
Frank Calderoni, lead independent director of Adobe and head of the board's selection committee, said in a statement that the board conducted a rigorous search before reaching a unanimous decision. "Over the last six and a half years, he has transformed and expanded Adobe's Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations through innovation-led growth," Calderoni said.
Among his contributions at Adobe, Chakravarthy oversaw the creation of AI offerings such as GenStudio and Adobe CX Enterprise, an agentic platform designed to orchestrate marketing and customer lifecycle management, according to The Wall Street Journal . Prior to his time at Adobe, he spent four years running Informatica, a cloud data management firm.
"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 in a statement.
Separately, David Wadhwani, who has run Adobe's creativity and productivity division, announced his departure from the company, according to CNBC. Wadhwani had been seen as a potential CEO candidate.
Adobe stock has lost about 18% this year, on top of a 25% drop in 2024 and a 21% decline in 2025, as investors worry that AI poses a threat to the company's core software business. Adobe shares were down around 2% in after-hours trading after the news broke.
Adobe is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on September 10, the company said.
