From universities to conglomerates to government agencies, the American C-suite continues to tap into the talent and brilliance of Indian origin for growth and expansion. Despite the ongoing rant against Indian immigrants to make American great again (MAGA), Adobe Inc. bets on another Indian American to succeed Shantanu Narayen who stepped from Adobe’s CEO role after 18 years. Adobe’s new CEO and President is Anil Chakravarthy. He will take over the reign from Shantanu Narayen on 1 December 2026, while the latter will take up the role of executive chair.
All about new Adobe CEO Anil Chakravarthy
Anil Chakravarthy is a global professional with 6 years of leadership experience at Adobe in San Jose, California. In January 2020, he joined Adobe as executive vice president and general manager for Adobe’s Digital Experience business. In 2021, he helmed the additional responsibility of catering to enterprise-level customers across a spectrum of Adobe products in both productivity and creativity portfolios – which earned him promotion to Adobe’s President of digital experience and worldwide field operations.
Anil Chakravarthy’s salary at Adobe
At Adobe, Anil Chakravarthy received a compensation about $17.79 million (including cash and equity) in 2025 as President of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations. His total compensation was about $17 million in 2024 and $15.08 million in 2023. No information is yet available on his salary as Adobe’s next CEO and President. Whether Anil Chakravarthy’s pay hike would match the compensation of Adobe’s outgoing CEO Shantanu Narayen, it is subject to speculations. $51.17 million was Shantanu Narayen’s total compensation in 2025, according to several reports.
Anil Chakravarthy’s journey from BHU to MIT
He ticks all the boxes to be a tech CEO in America’s Silicon Valley, like Snowflake Inc. CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy and CEO and Vanguard Group CEO Salim Ramji. Anil Chakravarthy’s journey from Bengaluru to Adobe’s headquarters is a great milestone in itself, given his academic profile, skill portfolio, and decades of experience. He grew up in Bengaluru and studied Computer Science & Engineering at IIT-BHU (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi. Thereafter, he moved to the US for an ‘American Dream’ career. MIT was his next destination for MS and PhD.
Why Adobe chose Anil Chakravarthy over David Wadhwani?
Other than Shantanu Narayen, David Wadhwani has been key to the success of Adobe’s Creativity and Productivity business as its President in two separate tenures. He was a strong contender for Adobe’s CEO position. As he announced his exit from Adobe, Anil Chakravarthy stepped into the C-suite. The leadership change happened in Adobe’s C-suite amid the mounting pressure of AI technology on the photoshop and illustrator maker’s revenues and shares. As CEO and President, Anil is expected to steer Adobe through AI-driven competition from its rivals and the emerging competitors with disruptive business models.
