Highlights
- Anil Chakravarthy named Adobe's new president and CEO, effective December 1
- Chakravarthy is an alumnus of Banaras Hindu University and MIT
- David Wadhwani, another contender for the top post, announced his departure from Adobe
US TECH firm Adobe has appointed Anil Chakravarthy as its new president and chief executive officer, succeeding Shantanu Narayen, who has led the company for more than 18 years.
The company announced on Thursday (3) that Chakravarthy will take up the new role on December 1, while Narayen will move into the position of executive chair.
Chakravarthy, an alumnus of Banaras Hindu University, currently serves as president of Adobe's Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations.
"I could not be more confident that Anil is the right person to lead Adobe's growth in an AI-driven era, and I look forward to working closely with him in my new role as executive chair," Narayen said in a statement.
Chakravarthy said in a post on LinkedIn, "Honoured and incredibly excited for what's ahead at Adobe. Our customers, employees (best in the world!) and AI innovation are top of mind, as always. Deep gratitude to our Chair & CEO, Shantanu Narayen, and the Adobe Board of Directors for their trust in me. Adobe's best days are ahead."
Joined the company in 2020
Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 as executive vice president and general manager leading the company's Digital Experience business. In September 2020, he took on the additional responsibility of leading the company's worldwide field operations, serving enterprise customers across Adobe's full portfolio of products, including creativity and productivity.
In December 2021, he was promoted to president of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations.
Before his current role, Chakravarthy served as CEO for four years at Informatica, a global cloud data management company. He originally joined Informatica in 2013 as executive vice president. Prior to that, he gained broad experience in the technology industry through executive roles at Symantec, VeriSign and McKinsey & Company.
Chakravarthy received a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, and a Master of Science and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
David Wadhwani, president of Adobe's Creativity and Productivity Business and a contender for the top post, announced his departure from the company after a five-year stint.
"As much as Adobe means to me, I've decided this is the right moment for me to start a new chapter, and it's a great moment for Adobe to do the same as Anil steps into the CEO role," Wadhwani said in a LinkedIn post.
