internal
Shantanu Narayen
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Executive
18 yr
10 reports
Adobe Inc. ·ADBE
Two product presidents dominate Adobe’s otherwise functional org
Technology · Fortune #201 · Functional structure · 31K employees · San Jose, CA
View as of:
7
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 10)
2.3
Avg span
tight
3
Max depth
3 levels
7.1 yr
Avg tenure
↓ 1.1yr from FY2024
43%
Internal hires
near industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-11-28 · 10-K
Revenue
$23.8B
Operating income
$8.7B
Net income
$7.1B
Total assets
$29.5B
Shares out
410M
Sourced from Adobe Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-02-27 ↗ View on SEC
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Adobe Inc. organizational chart
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Adobe’s structure is defined by two powerful product presidents reporting directly to the CEO, alongside centralized functional leadership. This page maps Adobe’s executive org, analyzes CEO span and depth, tracks recent leadership changes, and compares Adobe’s model with major software peers.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Shantanu Narayen changed role as Chief Executive Officer
Announced intention to transition as CEO once a successor is named (March 12, 2026).
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add a Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO to reduce CEO span and consolidate operational execution across product and functional teams.
- CEO Succession Event Model the removal of the current CEO role following Narayen’s planned transition.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
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- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
8 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
Daniel Durn
Chief Financial Officer and EVP, Finance, Technology, Security and Operations
Finance
3 yr
1 reports
Anil Chakravarthy
President, Customer Experience Orchestration Business
Digital Experience
5 yr
1 reports
David Wadhwani
President, Creativity and Productivity Business
Digital Media
6 yr
1 reports
Louise Pentland
Chief Legal Officer and EVP, Legal and Government Relations
Legal
1 yr
0 reports
internal
Ann Lewnes
Chief Marketing Officer
Marketing
18 yr
0 reports
Gloria Chen
Chief People Officer
Human Resources
4 yr
0 reports
Ely Greenfield
Chief Technology Officer
Engineering
9 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Shantanu Narayen $51.2M
- Base salary
- $1.50M
- Stock awards
- $45.38M
- Non-equity incentive
- $3.12M
- Other
- $1.18M
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
Stock ownership requirements
6×CEO base salary
3×NEO base salary
5×Director cash retainer
Stock ownership guidelines expressed as multiples of base salary or cash retainer.
The businesses
How Adobe Inc. divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Digital Media
12K employees
President, Creativity and Productivity Business (David Wadhwani)
Owns Creative Cloud, Acrobat, and Express, driving the majority of Adobe’s subscription revenue.
Digital Experience
8K employees
President, Customer Experience Orchestration Business (Anil Chakravarthy)
Leads Adobe Experience Platform and enterprise marketing and analytics solutions.
Finance
2K employees
Chief Financial Officer (Daniel Durn)
Manages financial planning, accounting, investor relations, and enterprise operations.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Adobe’s most distinctive structural feature is that two powerful product presidents sit alongside classic functional chiefs, rather than product lines being fully embedded under a COO.
The Digital Media and Digital Experience businesses are each led by a president with broad P&L scope, while Finance, Legal, Marketing, People, and Technology remain centralized.
This hybrid-but-functionally-rooted model concentrates strategic control at the CEO level, with Shantanu Narayen directly managing both product presidents and all major corporate functions. The absence of a COO reinforces this dynamic, keeping execution responsibility distributed across the presidents and the CFO’s expanded operations remit.
The structure supports Adobe’s platform strategy by allowing deep specialization in its two core businesses while preserving tight functional consistency in areas like finance, legal, and people operations.
- No Chief Operating Officer
- Two presidents with broad P&L authority
- CFO oversees technology and operations
The comparison
How Adobe Inc. stacks up
Compared with large software peers, Adobe is unusual in elevating two business presidents without introducing a COO layer. Microsoft and Salesforce pair strong product leaders with a COO-like role, while Adobe keeps execution closer to the CEO. This results in a flatter top but heavier CEO span of control. Adobe’s …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Avg C-suite tenure
Has COO / Has CAIO
Adobe Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most consequential change is CEO Shantanu Narayen’s announced plan to step down once a successor is appointed.
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-02-27
- CEO
- Shantanu Narayen
- CEO span
- 7
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 7 yr
Leadership stable with long-tenured CEO and two product presidents.
Named executive officers (5)
- Shantanu Narayen - Chair and CEO since 2007
- Daniel Durn - CFO since 2021
- Anil Chakravarthy - President, Digital Experience since 2020
- David Wadhwani - President, Digital Media since 2018
- Louise Pentland - Chief Legal Officer since 2025
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-02-28
- CEO
- Shantanu Narayen
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 4
- Avg tenure
- 8.2 yr
Pre-Pentland legal leadership transition.
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-03-01
- CEO
- Shantanu Narayen
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 4
- Avg tenure
- 9.1 yr
Highly stable executive team.
Year-over-year changes
Addition of a new Chief Legal Officer modestly expanded CEO span and refreshed average tenure.
- CEO span: 6 → 7
- C-suite size: 4 → 5
- Avg tenure: 8.2 → 7 yr
- new Louise Pentland - Chief Legal Officer (DEF 14A, Feb 27 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Adobe?
Shantanu Narayen has served as Adobe’s CEO since 2007 and announced in March 2026 that he plans to transition once a successor is named.
What type of organizational structure does Adobe use?
Adobe primarily uses a functional structure, with centralized corporate functions and two major product presidents.
How many direct reports does Adobe's CEO have?
Adobe’s CEO has seven direct reports, including two presidents and five functional chiefs.
How has Adobe's leadership changed recently?
In March 2026, Adobe disclosed that CEO Shantanu Narayen plans to step down after a successor is appointed.
Does Adobe have a COO?
No. Adobe does not have a Chief Operating Officer; operational responsibilities are split across the CFO and the two presidents.
Sources
- Form 8-K, Mar 12 2026
- DEF 14A, Feb 27 2026
- SEC EDGAR: Adobe Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Adobe Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Adobe Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/adobe/MLA 9th
"Adobe Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/adobe/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Adobe Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/adobe/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Adobe Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-02-27. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/796343/000079634326000043/adbe-20260227.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/adobe/ · last updated 2026-04-01