Adobe is a technology company first and foremost, but big ideas have led to some of its major innovations, said company CEO Shantanu Narayen, in a conversation with Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun on the Debussy Stage at Cannes Palais des Festivals Wednesday morning. 

Narayen, a 27-year veteran of Adobe (he’s been CEO since 2007) was honored the previous evening as Cannes Lions inaugural Creative Champion of the Year, in recognition of his long-term dedication to providing the creative community with state of the art tools to excel at their craft.  

The company’s shift to cloud-based products started with an internal idea that company engineers should have the ability to collaborate and deliver new tools and products “whenever they wanted to,” without delays that could often be months or years, said Narayen. 

Creative and marketing was one of the last areas to be automated at an enterprise level, he said. Now the marketing technology stack, built for personalization and at scale “is our North Star.” 

Sadoun noted that he has “never been so pleased with what we can do for clients,” adding that it is the combination of platforms and service that drive client success today.  

Narayen said the company’s mission goes well beyond product development. With clients, he said, “we’re an open book.” The company not only trains customers how use products but “shares what we are doing” to derive maximum benefits.  

“We are passionate about enabling people to express their creativity and enable them to bring their ideas to life.” 

Pictured above at Cannes (l to r): Narayen, Sadoun.