Adobe named Anil Chakravarthy president and chief executive officer, effective December 1, replacing Shantanu Narayen, who transitions to executive chair after an 18-year tenure.
Chakravarthy currently leads Adobe's customer experience orchestration and worldwide field operations. He will join the board upon taking the top role.
The appointment arrives as Adobe's stock has lost 25 percent in 2024 and an additional 21 percent in 2025, reflecting investor concern that generative AI tools threaten the company's core creative software moat. Narayen, who joined Adobe in 1998 and announced his departure plans last March, said Chakravarthy brings "deep business knowledge" and experience as a transformational leader.
Chakravarthy came to Adobe nearly seven years ago from Informatica, where he was CEO of the enterprise data management firm. An initial partnership between Informatica and Adobe preceded his move.
Alongside the CEO announcement, David Wadhwani, president of Adobe's creativity and productivity business, said he is leaving to explore new ventures. Wadhwani had led that division for nearly five years and was considered a strong contender for the top job, partly due to his leadership on Adobe's failed 2023 bid to acquire design platform Figma, which regulators blocked.
Adobe's stock fell about 2 percent in extended trading on the leadership news.
