Adobe's Board of Directors announced that Anil Chakravarthy, currently president of the company's Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, will become its next president and chief executive officer.
The decision would be effective December 1, 2026.
Current CEO Shantanu Narayen will transition to executive chair, working closely with Chakravarthy to ensure continuity through the change.
Narayen said Adobe's prospects remained vast given its record of creating new markets and category-defining products.
"Anil is an experienced transformational leader who leads with values, integrity and a deep knowledge of our business," he said, adding, "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, who headed the special committee overseeing the selection process, said the board had unanimously determined that Chakravarthy was "the right leader for Adobe's next chapter of growth," citing his track record of expanding the Customer Experience Orchestration business over six and a half years.
Chakravarthy called the appointment an honour and said he was looking forward to steering Adobe's push into "agentic software for creativity, productivity and customer experience," crediting Narayen's leadership in transforming the company's business model over the decades.
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Who Is Anil Chakravarthy
Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager of the Digital Experience business, taking on responsibility for worldwide field operations later that year.
He was promoted to president of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations in December 2021.
Under his watch, Adobe has developed products including Adobe CX Enterprise, GenStudio and Brand Visibility, and he oversaw the integration of the Workfront and Semrush acquisitions.
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Before Adobe, Chakravarthy spent four years as CEO of enterprise cloud data management firm Informatica, which he had joined in 2013 as executive vice president.
He earlier held roles at Symantec, VeriSign and McKinsey & Company.
He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Varanasi, and a Master's and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Adobe is scheduled to host its Q3 FY2026 earnings call on September 10, with the leadership transition coming ahead of that update.
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