GBS Rewind: Adobe’s CEO states that the company remains one of the largest independent software vendors

While speaking about what role digitalisation can play, Narayen said that ‘Adobe’s mission has always been changing the world through digital experiences.'

Adobe, one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world, is on a mission to change the world through digital experiences by serving a large customer base, from students to business communicators to the world’s largest enterprises. At the Economic Times Global Business Summit of 2022, the Chairman and CEO of Adobe, Shantanu Narayen, talked about how he transformed the company into an industry innovator by pioneering a cloud-based subscription model for its creative suite, establishing the global standard for digital documents, and creating and leading the explosive digital experience category.

He started by talking about how difficult it was for everyone due to the pandemic and the tremendous loss of life that occurred, which dwarfed business losses all around the globe. He spoke about how Adobe, like most companies, prioritised its employees and customers while maintaining high customer service standards. He revealed how the company made sure to give their employees healthcare access as per their needs.

While talking about how the company tried to serve its customers during the pandemic, he told the Economic Times that they kept in mind the cash-flow situations of their customers. Accordingly, they strategised on how the company could continue to serve their customers, be it the government or an individual user, as Adobe has ‘always taken a long-term business perspective’. The next thing they thought about was how digitalization is transforming everything, from work and life to entertainment and healthcare, and whether Adobe is stepping up to the opportunities that are available to them.

On being asked what role Adobe India played in the lives of people during the pandemic, he revealed that Adobe had been celebrating the completion of 25 years in India and that the nation has a lot of talent, which is what helped them thrive as much of the engineering work was done in India. He also revealed that the company has invested in India, which is going to continue for a long time.

While speaking about the role that digitalization can play, Narayen said that ‘Adobe’s mission has always been to change the world through digital experiences. He spoke about the three aspects that they focused on, which were creativity, providing for enterprises, and automating inefficient manual processes. Talking about these aspects in detail, he said the company wanted to be a part of everything that involved creativity, as every organisation nowadays has gone digital, for which, their electronic tools like PDF, etc. have been of great help to people, be it for an online signature or any official document. As they kept these few aspects in mind, they saw huge success in business, especially in India.

Commenting on the growing competition that Adobe has been facing recently, he said that the company has been well-known for creating market categories. And talking about pioneering, more and more companies are innovating, leading to increased competition. Yet, “Adobe remains one of the largest independent software vendors,” he said, as the other companies are ‘focused on 3D workflows’ while they are ‘focused on immersive media.’ He also said, “in order to remain in the market, one needs to innovate more and more,” and that if you focus on your customers, things will take care of themselves.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members

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