Adobe said Anil Chakravarthy will become its next president and chief executive officer on December 1, 2026, setting up a planned handoff that keeps Shantanu Narayen in the room as executive chair. The change gives Adobe a new chief at a time when the company is pressing ahead through an AI-driven transformation.
Chakravarthy, who joined Adobe in January 2020, said he was deeply honored to have been chosen to lead Adobe during what he called a pivotal moment. He will also join Adobe's Board of Directors on December 1, while Narayen shifts into the executive chair role and works closely with him to support the transition.
The timing matters because Adobe is not changing leaders in the middle of a vacuum. The company announced the move on September 3, 2026, and said the long runway is meant to ensure a smooth handoff. That schedule also leaves Narayen in place through the end of the year, giving Adobe continuity while the new chief prepares to take over.
Frank Calderoni said the Board unanimously determined that Chakravarthy is the right leader for Adobe's next chapter of growth after a rigorous selection process. His track record inside Adobe is the case for that confidence. Under Chakravarthy's leadership, Adobe became an industry leader in Customer Experience Orchestration solutions, and he helped scale Adobe Experience Platform while leading the development of Adobe CX Enterprise, GenStudio and Brand Visibility.
There is still a harder question beneath the smooth script. Adobe is elevating a leader known for Digital Experience and enterprise operations as the company pushes deeper into AI, but it has not spelled out a dramatic reset in strategy. Instead, it is betting that the next phase of growth comes from extending work already underway, not from a break with what came before.
That is why the December 1 change lands as more than a title swap. Chakravarthy inherits a company that wants both continuity and change, and the first test of his tenure will be whether he can turn that balance into faster growth without losing the discipline that brought him to the top.
