Updated:
Adobe’s incoming chief executive, Anil Chakravarthy, will inherit a business balancing rapid adoption of artificial-intelligence tools against questions about competition, product direction and whether new users will generate more revenue. Goldman Sachs maintained its sell rating on Adobe as Chakravarthy prepares to become president and CEO on December 1, Investing.com reported Sunday, October 4.
The bank’s concerns, as described by Investing.com, center on execution: whether Adobe can turn its expanding audience and AI features into durable sales while sharpening its products and responding to competitors. The leadership change could prompt a strategic reset, but the analyst questions include whether the company will instead continue its existing three-to-five-year plan.
Adobe reported record third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $6.76 billion, up 13% year over year, and said its creativity and productivity offerings had reached more than one billion monthly active users. The company’s earnings release also reported that AI-first annual recurring revenue grew more than 150% year over year. Those figures show adoption and growth, but do not by themselves answer how much AI is contributing to paid revenue or how sustainable that growth will be. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/796343/000079634326000147/adbeex991q326.htm?utm_source=openai))
Leadership change arrives amid strategic questions
Adobe announced in September that Chakravarthy would take over as CEO on December 1, with current chief executive Shantanu Narayen becoming executive chair. Chakravarthy has held senior roles at Adobe, including leading its Customer Experience Orchestration business and worldwide field operations, according to Investing.com. ([news.adobe.com](https://news.adobe.com/news/2026/09/adobe-announces-anil-chakravarthy-to-become-president-and-ceo?utm_source=openai))
The transition follows an earlier succession process: Narayen said in March that he would step down once a successor was identified. Investing.com also reported that David Wadhwani, who led the Creativity & Productivity business, is leaving to start a new venture, while Adobe is seeking a permanent chief financial officer. These changes place product leadership, finance and the CEO role in focus as the company competes in markets being reshaped by generative AI. ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/adobe-stock-here-are-5-strategic-questions-into-new-leadership-4930961))
Firefly and the question of differentiation
One issue highlighted in the report is how Adobe positions Firefly as more AI models become available. Rather than relying only on its own models, Adobe is moving toward using Creative Cloud as a platform that can incorporate third-party models, Investing.com said, citing Goldman’s assessment.
The strategic question is whether Adobe can make its software valuable as a place to use different models and complete creative work, rather than compete solely on the quality of a model it builds itself. Firefly’s early distinction included training on Adobe Stock, licensed content and public-domain material, the report said. The analyst’s discussion raises a business-positioning question; it does not establish that Adobe has abandoned its own model development. ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/adobe-stock-here-are-5-strategic-questions-into-new-leadership-4930961))
Turning a large user base into paid growth
Adobe’s user milestone puts monetization under scrutiny. Investing.com reported that monthly active users across Acrobat, Creative Cloud, Express and Firefly exceeded one billion in the third quarter, more than 20% above the year-earlier level. The report said Adobe is pursuing paid conversions from free offerings, higher-priced plans such as CC Pro, and charges for customers who exceed included generative-AI credits. ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/adobe-stock-here-are-5-strategic-questions-into-new-leadership-4930961))
The distinction between reach and revenue matters because a growing audience does not automatically mean a proportionate increase in subscriptions or spending. Adobe’s own release reported strong overall revenue and AI-first recurring-revenue growth, but the available figures do not isolate how much future growth will come from each conversion or pricing mechanism. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/796343/000079634326000147/adbeex991q326.htm?utm_source=openai))
Express, acquisitions and enterprise software
Goldman’s other questions, as summarized by Investing.com, concern product development and competition. The report said the bank sees Adobe Express as trailing Canva, which it cited as having more than 265 million monthly users and at least $4 billion in annual recurring revenue; Goldman’s estimate for Express was about 70 million monthly users in 2025. The figures are estimates reported by Investing.com, not independently verified disclosures in Adobe’s earnings release. ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/adobe-stock-here-are-5-strategic-questions-into-new-leadership-4930961))
On acquisitions, the bank reportedly expects smaller purchases that add technology and engineering talent, rather than a major transformational deal, while warning that suitable targets could be expensive. In enterprise software, it also questioned whether Adobe’s repositioned Experience Cloud can become a substantial business managing AI-driven customer experiences or will chiefly support sales of existing products. Investing.com said Experience Cloud accounts for about a quarter of subscription revenue and was growing at a low-teens rate excluding Semrush. ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/adobe-stock-here-are-5-strategic-questions-into-new-leadership-4930961))
The next concrete leadership milestone is Chakravarthy’s scheduled start on December 1. The available report does not specify any new strategy announcement or timetable for one. Investors will therefore have to wait for company disclosures to learn whether the incoming leadership changes Adobe’s plan and how it intends to demonstrate that AI adoption is translating into paid growth.
