Adobe Mission Statement: The 2026 Version and the Old One - Pedro Paulo Executive Coaching

The Adobe mission statement in 2026 is to "empower everyone to create," according to Adobe's 2026 proxy statement. It replaced the long-running line about changing the world through digital experiences and sits beside four core values.

What Is the Adobe Mission Statement Now?

In one line, the Adobe mission statement says Adobe's job is to give everyone the tools to create.

Adobe Inc. is the San Jose software company behind Photoshop, Acrobat, Express, and Firefly, founded in December 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, according to Wikipedia.

The current Adobe mission statement appears in the letter to stockholders in the 2026 proxy statement. Executives repeated it on the earnings calls held on March 12, June 11, and September 10, 2026.

In the Adobe mission statement, "everyone" maps to the customer groups Adobe named on its first-quarter 2026 call:

• Creators and creative professionals.

• Marketing professionals.

• Business professionals and consumers.

Readers often report surprise that the mission is this short, since older versions ran to three sentences.

Which Adobe Products Carry the Mission?

Adobe's own slides for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 tie the Adobe mission statement to three product groups, each aimed at a different customer.

Customer group	Products Adobe named	What "create" means here
Creators and creative professionals	Creative Cloud, Firefly	Images, video, and design work
Business professionals and consumers	Acrobat, Express	Documents, presentations, quick graphics
Marketing professionals	Adobe Experience Platform, Experience Manager, GenStudio	Campaign content and personalized customer experiences

The marketing row is where the old "digital experiences" language still lives. Adobe didn't drop that business. It folded it under the broader idea that everyone, including marketing teams, is creating content.

People who use only one Adobe app often report not realizing the company sells enterprise marketing software at all, which is why the shorter mission can feel like it describes a different company.

How Has the Adobe Mission Statement Changed?

The Adobe mission statement moved from an enterprise-sounding line to a creator-first one. On the third-quarter 2026 earnings call, management described the mission as evolving from changing the world through digital experiences to empowering everyone to create.

Period	Mission wording	Values in use	Source
Through 2022	Change the world through digital experiences	Genuine, exceptional, innovative, involved	Adobe CEO message, April 2019
March 2023	Same mission	Create the future, own the outcome, raise the bar, be genuine	Adobe blog, March 7, 2023
2026	Empower everyone to create	Same four values	2026 proxy statement and 2026 earnings calls

Some regional Adobe pages still show a variant about changing the world through personalized digital experiences. That version is older wording, not a third current mission.

Students citing the Adobe mission statement often say the table is the part they needed, because sources disagree on dates.

What Are Adobe's Four Core Values?

Adobe introduced the values that support the Adobe mission statement in March 2023, and they have stayed the same through the 2026 mission change. Paraphrased from Adobe's own descriptions:

• Create the future: look ahead, then build what comes next instead of waiting for it.

• Own the outcome: act like an owner, favor action, and answer for the end result.

• Raise the bar: keep improving and refuse to settle for the status quo.

• Be genuine: stay authentic, which Adobe calls a hallmark of its culture.

The values did not change with the Adobe mission statement. People preparing for Adobe interviews often say these four come up as discussion prompts.

Why Do Most Sites Still Show the Old Adobe Mission Statement?

This is the gap most competing pages miss. The top-ranking analysis pages for the Adobe mission statement, several last updated in 2025 or early 2026, still present the digital experiences line as current.

A few things keep the old wording alive:

• Adobe used it for years. Its 2019 CEO message said the mission had held since the company's founding.

• The values haven't changed since 2023, so older pages look up to date.

• Some Adobe regional pages still carry the previous line.

• Adobe's press releases end with a longer company description built around the same idea, covering creativity, productivity, and personalized customer experiences. Some writers quote that boilerplate as the mission, which adds another version to the mix.

To check the Adobe mission statement yourself, read the opening of Adobe's latest proxy statement or earnings call. Researchers who do this often say it ends the debate quickly.

How Does the Mission Show Up in Adobe's Business?

The creator-first Adobe mission statement lines up with where Adobe reports growth. For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended February 27, Adobe reported record revenue of $6.40 billion, up 12%, according to its March 12, 2026 results release.

The same release put total annualized recurring revenue at $26.06 billion and said revenue from AI-first products more than tripled year over year.

Other moves fit the "everyone" framing:

• In February 2026, Adobe announced free Photoshop, Acrobat, and Firefly access for students at accredited institutions in India.

• Its Firefly models and Express app aim at people without design training.

• In March 2026, Adobe and NVIDIA announced a strategic partnership to build next-generation Firefly models and agentic workflows, per a Business Wire release from that month.

Whether the shorter Adobe mission statement changes results is not proven. Analysts often say AI rivals in design software are the real test, a view The Edge Malaysia echoed in September 2026.

What Does the CEO Change Mean for the Adobe Mission Statement?

Leadership is changing, and the Adobe mission statement could follow, though nothing is confirmed.

• March 12, 2026: Shantanu Narayen said he would step down as CEO once a successor was named, as reported by Fortune.

• September 3, 2026: Adobe named Anil Chakravarthy president and CEO, effective December 1, 2026, as reported by RTTNews.

• Narayen moves to executive chair. David Wadhwani, president of the creativity and productivity business, said he is leaving.

Narayen's tenure frames the size of the handoff. He joined Adobe in 1998 and became CEO in December 2007, Fortune reported.

In his memo, he said the company grew from about 3,000 employees to more than 30,000 over his 28 years, and revenue from under $1 billion to more than $25 billion.

Chakravarthy comes from Adobe's customer experience side and previously ran Informatica. A return to enterprise-focused language is possible but unconfirmed. Investors often say a new CEO's first investor day is where mission wording gets revisited.

Is the New Adobe Mission Statement Better Than the Old One?

That depends on what you want a mission to do. This section is analysis, not a company statement.

Points in favor of the new wording:

• It's five words, easy to remember and repeat.

• It names who Adobe serves, everyone, instead of an abstract goal.

• It fits the free and low-cost tools Adobe now pushes, such as Express and Firefly.

Points against it:

• It says little about the enterprise marketing business, which the older line covered well.

• "Everyone" is a broad claim for a company whose flagship apps are priced for professionals.

• It could change again under a CEO who built his career on the enterprise side.

On balance, the new Adobe mission statement reads as a response to AI-era competition for casual creators. Analysts and designers often say they'll judge it by pricing and product decisions, not by the wording itself.

How Should You Quote the Adobe Mission Statement?

Quote the short form and give it a date. A clean citation reads: Adobe's mission is to "empower everyone to create" (Adobe 2026 proxy statement).

A few habits keep a citation of the Adobe mission statement accurate:

• Name the document and year, since the wording changed in 2026.

• Keep the values separate from the mission. They come from a 2023 update.

• If you mention the older line, label it as the previous Adobe mission statement.

• Recheck after December 1, 2026, when the new CEO starts.

Marketing students often report losing marks for quoting an outdated mission without a date, so the year matters as much as the words.

Final Take

If you cite the Adobe mission statement, use "empower everyone to create," pair it with the four values, and date your check. Revisit after Anil Chakravarthy takes over on December 1, 2026.

Adobe Mission Statement FAQs

What is the Adobe mission statement in 2026?

It is to "empower everyone to create," as stated in Adobe's 2026 proxy statement and repeated on its 2026 earnings calls.

Is changing the world through digital experiences still the Adobe mission statement?

No. That was the earlier mission. Adobe executives described it on the September 2026 earnings call as the version the company has moved on from.

What are Adobe's core values?

Create the future, own the outcome, raise the bar, and be genuine. Adobe adopted them in March 2023.

Who is the CEO of Adobe?

Shantanu Narayen through November 30, 2026. Anil Chakravarthy becomes president and CEO on December 1, 2026.

Does Adobe have a separate vision statement?

Not under that label. Adobe has described its aim as helping everyone, everywhere imagine, create, and bring any digital experience to life.