Inside Anil Chakravarthy’s Journey From IIT-BHU To Adobe’s Next CEO

Indian-origin executive Anil Chakravarthy has been named the next president and chief executive officer of Adobe, succeeding Shantanu Narayen. Chakravarthy will take over as CEO and join Adobe’s board on December 1, 2026, according to the company’s announcement.

Narayen, who earlier announced his decision to step down, will become Adobe’s executive chair. He will continue working with Chakravarthy to support the leadership transition and the company’s ongoing transformation.

Chakravarthy currently heads Adobe’s Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations. He joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager and has since taken on broader leadership responsibilities.

From IIT-BHU And MIT To Silicon Valley

Chakravarthy began his academic journey with a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University). He later earned a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995.

His career spans consulting, technology and senior executive roles. He started at McKinsey & Company, where he worked as an engagement manager between 1995 and 2000. He later held marketing and product management roles at Logictier and VeriSign.

Chakravarthy then spent nearly a decade at Symantec, taking up roles across business operations and information security before becoming executive vice president of Information Security.

In 2013, he joined Informatica as executive vice president and chief product officer and later became the company’s CEO. He also served on the boards of USAA Federal Savings Bank and Ansys as an independent director.

A Long-Standing Role At Adobe

At Adobe, Chakravarthy initially took charge of the company’s customer experience orchestration business. In September 2020, he also assumed responsibility for worldwide field operations, working with enterprise customers across Adobe’s product portfolio.

He was promoted to president of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations in December 2021. Earlier this year, he also joined FIS as an independent board member.

As Adobe’s next CEO, Chakravarthy will take charge at a time when the company is focusing heavily on AI-driven software. He said he wants to drive growth and strengthen Adobe’s position in the next phase of “agentic software” across creativity, productivity and customer experience.

Narayen described Chakravarthy as an experienced leader with deep knowledge of Adobe and said he was confident that he was the right person to lead the company’s growth in an AI-driven era. Narayen will work closely with his successor as executive chair to ensure a smooth transition.