Adobe Names Anil Chakravarthy as next CEO, Shantanu Narayen to become executive chair

Adobe on Friday announced that Anil Chakravarthy, president of Adobe’s customer experience orchestration business and worldwide field operations, will become the company’s next president and chief executive officer (CEO), and join the board of directors effective December 1, 2026.

Shantanu Narayen will transition to executive chair and work closely with Chakravarthy to ensure a smooth transition and support Adobe’s ongoing transformation.

“Chakravarthy is an experienced transformational leader who leads with values, integrity and a deep knowledge of our business. He has a proven record of building and delivering category-defining products that serve our broad range of customers,” said Narayen.

Chakravarthy said, “I am energised 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 joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager leading the Digital Experience business. In September 2020, he took on the additional responsibility of leading Adobe’s worldwide field operations serving enterprise customers with the full portfolio of Adobe’s products including creativity and productivity.

In December 2021, he was promoted to president of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations.

Under Chakravarthy’s leadership, Adobe has become an industry leader in Customer Experience Orchestration solutions. He has led the development of market-leading products, including Adobe CX Enterprise, GenStudio and Brand Visibility, which are category-defining products using the power of AI to deliver breakthrough customer experiences.

He has been instrumental in scaling Adobe Experience Platform and the introduction of new product innovations like CX Enterprise Coworker. He successfully championed the acquisitions and integration of Workfront and Semrush.