Adobe has named Anil Chakravarthy as its next president and chief executive officer, a move that places a veteran of its enterprise software push at the helm as the company leans further into artificial intelligence. Chakravarthy, who currently leads Adobe‘s Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, will step into the role and take a seat on the board on December 1, 2026.
Shantanu Narayen, who has led Adobe for roughly two decades, will become executive chair. The company says he will work closely with Chakravarthy through the transition and support Adobe’s ongoing transformation. Narayen said, “I could not be more confident that Anil is the right person to lead Adobe’s growth in an AI-driven era.”
Frank Calderoni, Adobe’s lead independent director and head of the selection committee, said the board unanimously chose Chakravarthy after a rigorous process. “The Board has unanimously determined that Anil is the right leader for Adobe’s next chapter of growth,” Calderoni said in a statement.
Chakravarthy called the appointment a deep honor, saying, “I am deeply honored to have been chosen to lead Adobe during this pivotal moment.” He described himself as energized by the chance to fuel growth and drive Adobe’s leadership in the next era of agentic software for creativity, productivity and customer experience.
Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager of Digital Experience. He later expanded his remit to worldwide field operations and was promoted to president in December 2021. During his tenure, Adobe introduced customer experience products including Adobe CX Enterprise, GenStudio and Brand Visibility, scaled Adobe Experience Platform, and completed acquisitions of Workfront and Semrush.
Before coming to Adobe, he served as CEO of Informatica for four years and held executive roles at Symantec, VeriSign and McKinsey & Company. Chakravarthy earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Institute of Technology, Varanasi, India, and later received a master’s and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Adobe is scheduled to host its fiscal third-quarter earnings call on September 10, with a live stream available on its investor relations site.
