Amid AI transformation, Adobe has turned to another insider Indian American technology leader Anil Chakravarthy to replace Shantanu Narayen as its next president and chief executive officer from Dec. 1.
Narayen, who has led the company for 18 years, will transition to executive chair when Chakravarthy, currently president of Adobe’s Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, takes over.
Narayen will work closely with Chakravarthy to ensure a smooth transition and support Adobe’s ongoing transformation,
San Jose, California based computer software major announced.
“Adobe’s opportunity ahead is limitless with our track record in creating new market categories and world-class products. Anil 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.
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Over the last six and a half years, Chakravarthy “has transformed and expanded Adobe’s Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations through innovation-led growth, developing and retaining talent and carrying forward Adobe’s culture and values,” the company stated.
“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,” said Chakravarthy. “Adobe has a history of building the future — not just through our technology, but through our people and our commitment to customers.”
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.
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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.
Prior to his current role, Chakravarthy served as CEO for four years at Informatica, a global leader in enterprise cloud data management. He originally joined Informatica in 2013 as executive vice president. Before joining Informatica, Chakravarthy acquired broad experience in the technology industry through executive roles at Symantec, VeriSign and McKinsey & Company.
Chakravarthy received a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Varanasi, India and a Masters of Science and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.