Adobe has named Anil Chakravarthy as its new president and chief executive officer (CEO), succeeding Shantanu Narayen, who will move to the role of executive chair after leading the US software major for more than 18 years.
Chakravarthy will take charge on December 1, Adobe said in an announcement on Thursday. The leadership transition comes as the company steps up its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration across its creative, productivity and customer experience businesses.
“I could not be more confident that Anil is the right person to lead Adobe’s growth in an AI-driven era, and I look forward to working closely with him in my new role as executive chair,” Narayen said in a statement.
Executive Transition
Chakravarthy currently serves as president of Adobe’s customer experience orchestration business and worldwide field operations. He joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice-president and general manager of its digital experience business.
He took on additional responsibility for worldwide field operations in September 2020, overseeing enterprise customer engagement across Adobe’s portfolio, including its creativity and productivity products. He was promoted to president of digital experience and worldwide field operations in December 2021.
The leadership change will also see the departure of David Wadhwani, president of Adobe’s creativity and productivity business and one of the contenders for the CEO position. Wadhwani, who joined Adobe in 2021 and spent five years at the company, announced his exit following the appointment of Chakravarthy.
“As much as Adobe means to me, I’ve decided this is the right moment for me to start a new chapter, and it’s a great moment for Adobe to do the same as Anil steps into the CEO role,” Wadhwani said in a LinkedIn post.
Chakravarthy’s Enterprise Background
Chakravarthy brings experience across enterprise software and technology businesses. Before joining Adobe, he served as CEO of enterprise cloud data management company Informatica for four years, having joined the company in 2013 as executive vice-president.
Earlier, he held executive roles at Symantec and VeriSign and worked with McKinsey & Company.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Chakravarthy holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering. He also has a master’s degree and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Honoured and incredibly excited for what’s ahead at Adobe,” Chakravarthy said in a LinkedIn post, adding that customers, employees and AI innovation would remain his priorities.