‘Macro jolts a blip in long-term growth’

Macroeconomic sentiment is “a little bit more negative” due to the uncertainty sparked by the tariff wars, but this is just a blip on the way to long-term growth when building a company, Adobe Inc. chairman and chief executive Shantanu Narayen, 62, said in an interview.

Narayen, who has been steering the $21.5 billion software giant for almost two decades, was on an India visit last week.

Despite tariffs being wielded as a weapon, “The relentless move towards allowing for free trade, whatever that free may mean between countries is the way it's going to go,” he said, adding, “I am a big believer in the American and Indian” economies.


Since the Covid pandemic, however, “many nations have realised the need for supply chains to be closer to home,” he acknowledged.

Regarding fears of artificial intelligence (AI) killing the creative industry, he said that “those who use AI will replace people who don’t use it” and that new skills will be needed to differentiate craft.

“People see this as more disruptive,” he said. “I think what’s different this time is the speed and accessibility at which it’s happening.”

But it’s Adobe’s job to view this as an opportunity and leverage AI rather than fight it. The 43-year-old company that’s behind industry leading software such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat Reader is seeing “dramatic growth” in India, which continues to be a key part of its global R&D efforts. However, India will need to invest in its educational institutes to maintain its talent edge, he said.