Adobe Inc. has reduced its internal candidate list for the next chief executive to two senior executives, even as the company has engaged an outside search firm to hunt for external talent with experience bringing artificial intelligence products to market at scale.
According to reporting, the two insiders regarded as front-runners head Adobe's largest business units. David Wadhwani leads the division that includes Adobe's core creative applications such as Photoshop and Acrobat - a unit that accounted for roughly three-quarters of the company's $17.7 billion in revenue last year. Anil Chakravarthy runs Adobe's marketing and analytics segment, which delivered $5.9 billion in sales during the 2025 fiscal year.
The company has retained Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. to identify external candidates. The search firm's brief reportedly emphasizes executives with demonstrable experience developing or monetizing AI offerings at scale.
One outside candidate who held conversations about the position was Microsoft Corp. Executive Vice President Charles Lamanna, who oversees product development and AI integration into business applications at Microsoft. Lamanna reportedly discussed the role with Adobe but opted not to continue in the process.
Wadhwani's path at Adobe has included a departure in 2015 to lead AppDynamics, which Cisco Systems Inc. later acquired. He returned to Adobe in 2021 as an executive vice president after a period as a venture partner. Chakravarthy joined Adobe in 2020 after serving as CEO of Informatica Inc.
Shantanu Narayen, who has been Adobe's chief executive for nearly two decades, announced in March that he will step down as CEO once a successor is named. He will remain as chairman of the company's board.
The search and leadership transition come as Adobe's stock has experienced a substantial decline from its early 2024 highs. The shares have fallen by 59% from that peak, a trend the report links to waning investor confidence amid intensifying competition from AI-native tools, even as Adobe works to integrate artificial intelligence through its platform.
Context and next steps
- Adobe is weighing both internal continuity and external AI-focused leadership as it selects a new CEO.
- The company has enlisted a global executive search firm to broaden the candidate pool beyond its internal options.
- An external Microsoft executive engaged in initial conversations but chose not to move forward in the process.
The company and board will proceed with evaluating candidates from both internal and external channels until a successor is finalized. The search balances the prominence of Adobe's creative business with the growing priority of AI-driven product development and monetization.