Who will take the helm at Adobe (ADBE.US) in the era of AI? Two internal executives lead the race to succeed the CEO, with external candidates also being considered simultaneously.

Amid the impact of the artificial intelligence wave on the traditional software industry, Adobe (ADBE.US) is accelerating its CEO succession plan. Informed sources revealed that the company has not only identified two core internal executives as the main successor candidates, but also hired a headhunting firm to search for external candidates with AI experience globally. Currently, the most prominent internal candidates are the two core business leaders at Adobe, David Wadhwani and Anil Chakravarthy. At the same time, the company has commissioned Heidrick & Struggles to find external candidates, focusing on executives with experience in large-scale AI product development or commercialization. In the screening process, it was revealed that Microsoft Corporation's Executive Vice President Charles Lamanna had discussions with Adobe, but ultimately chose not to continue participating in the competition. Lamanna is currently responsible for the development of multiple product lines at Microsoft Corporation, and leads the application of AI technology in enterprise software. In March of this year, current CEO Shantanu Narayen announced that he would step down as CEO after determining his successor, but would continue to serve as chairman. Narayen has been at the helm of Adobe for nearly 20 years. For a long time, it has been widely believed that David Wadhwani is the most likely successor. Wadhwani is currently responsible for Adobe's most core creative software business, including flagship products like Photoshop and Acrobat. This business contributed revenues of about $17.7 billion last year, accounting for about three-quarters of Adobe's total revenue. He left Adobe in 2015 to serve as CEO of application monitoring software company AppDynamics. In 2017, AppDynamics was acquired by Cisco Systems, Inc. for $3.7 billion. After that, he served as a partner at Greylock Investments, and returned to Adobe as Executive Vice President in 2021. Another popular candidate, Anil Chakravarthy, is responsible for Adobe's marketing and data analytics software business. The department achieved revenues of $5.9 billion in fiscal year 2025, accounting for about a quarter of the company's total revenue. Before joining Adobe, Chakravarthy was CEO of data management software company Informatica. Analysts believe that Adobe's public large-scale external search also reflects the increasing pressure the company is facing. In recent years, with the rapid rise of AI-native tools, Adobe is facing increasingly fierce competition. The market is concerned that generative AI may weaken the moat of traditional software such as Photoshop, leading Adobe and other SaaS software companies to face a revaluation of their valuations. Data shows that since reaching its peak in early 2024, Adobe's stock price has fallen by 59%, becoming one of the representative cases of the so-called "SaaS winter" phenomenon in the market. KeyBanc analyst Jackson Ader said that if this had happened two years ago, Adobe might not have launched such a large-scale external CEO search plan at all. "Back then, everyone generally believed that Wadhwani was the natural heir, but now, the company's stock performance and the pressure of AI competition have prompted the board to show a more comprehensive and open selection process." Despite Wall Street's concerns about AI impacting Adobe's core business, the company has been actively pushing forward its AI transformation in recent years. Adobe has launched self-developed generative AI models like Firefly, emphasizing the copyright security advantage of its generated content. The company continues to integrate AI features into products like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat. However, the market still does not fully believe that these measures are enough to prevent AI startups from gaining market share. Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne pointed out that some investors hope to see a CEO with a truly "AI-native background" take over the company, but in reality, there is no such thing as a "universal solution." He said, "Adobe is a huge ship, and it cannot turn overnight."