Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to Step Down After 18 Years

Shantanu Narayen, who has led Adobe for 18 years, announced that he plans to step down as CEO once the board names his successor. The exact timing of the transition remains undecided; Narayen will continue to serve as chair of Adobe's board after leaving the CEO role.

Under Narayen’s leadership, Adobe moved from a traditional software seller to a major software-as-a-service company. The transformation culminated in the rollout of Creative Cloud — the subscription model that replaced perpetual-license bundles like Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere — a shift that reshaped how creative professionals access tools.

In an internal memo to employees, Narayen reflected on Adobe’s growth during his tenure. The company expanded from roughly 3,000 employees to over 30,000 and saw revenues rise from under $1 billion to more than $25 billion. He framed the company’s future around artificial intelligence and new creative workflows.

"The next era of creativity is being written right now — shaped by AI, by new workflows and by entirely new forms of expression," Narayen wrote. He praised Adobe’s people for their ingenuity and resilience, saying that talent and culture will define the company’s next chapter as much as its technology.

For Adobe customers and the creative industry, the leadership change will be closely watched. Adobe’s tools remain deeply embedded in professional pipelines, and the company’s product and AI strategy will likely guide how those tools evolve under new leadership.

Adobe’s board will conduct a search and name a successor before Narayen steps down as CEO. Until then, he will continue to lead the company through its present initiatives and remain positioned to influence long-term strategy as board chair.