Adobe is handing the keys to Photoshop and its entire creative suite to a new leader for the first time in nearly two decades. The company has picked Anil Chakravarthy as its next chief executive, with the handover from Shantanu Narayen set for December 1, 2026.
A handover set for December 1
Chakravarthy, currently president of Adobe’s customer experience orchestration business and worldwide field operations, will become president and CEO and join the board. Narayen, who has led the company for 18 years, transitions to executive chair and will work closely with Chakravarthy through the change. Narayen first signaled his exit last March.
| Announced | September 3, 2026 |
| Effective | December 1, 2026 |
| New CEO | Anil Chakravarthy |
| Current role | President, customer experience orchestration and worldwide field operations |
| Outgoing CEO | Shantanu Narayen, now executive chair |
| Joined Adobe | January 2020 |
Why Adobe is changing leaders now
Chakravarthy takes the helm as investors worry that AI will disrupt traditional software makers. Adobe shares fell about 25 percent in 2024 and another 21 percent in 2025, and the stock slipped roughly 2 percent in extended trading after the announcement as it remains down about 18 percent so far in 2026.
His own framing makes the priority clear: Adobe’s next chapter is built around agentic software for creativity, productivity and customer experience, in his words. That means generative tools like Firefly and AI-assisted workflows moving deeper into Photoshop, Premiere Pro and the rest of Creative Cloud.
The shift is part of a wider race this desk has been tracking:
- OpenAI’s Astra became the first AI model rated Critical by its maker for cyber capability.
- Google’s Gemini 3.8 Flash launched this week and undercut rivals on coding price.
What it means for creatives in the Philippines
For the Filipino designers, video editors and creators who run their daily work on Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro, the news is a leadership change, not a product one. No subscriptions, pricing or feature roadmap moved on September 3, and Narayen staying on as executive chair points to continuity rather than a pivot.
The signal worth watching is where Chakravarthy steers the roadmap. Adobe has been pushing generative and agentic AI into the same tools its Philippine users already pay for, and the December handover effectively signals a bet that AI is the growth engine, not a threat, to the creative suite.
