Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen highlights creativity, not software code, as future economic driver in India

Adobe Systems' chief executive Shantanu Narayen has emphasised that India's future economic growth will be driven primarily by creativity rather than software development. At the WAVES 2025 conference this week, he revealed plans to facilitate digital creativity training for over 20 million Indians and 500,000 teachers through complimentary access to Adobe's resources.
The significance of this shift is notable, considering that India's IT sector, valued at more than $ 250 billion, has been instrumental in the nation's recent economic advancement.
Narayen highlighted that artificial intelligence will amplify creative capabilities and output by expanding human imaginative potential, delivering innovative instruments and viewpoints, enabling unprecedented exploration of concepts.
He said, "Given the size and breadth of the creative opportunity that AI unlocks, it's fair to say that India's next growth as an economy will not be in software code but in creativity."
Furthermore, he suggested that training AI systems using Indian cultural, linguistic and historical information presents an opportunity to establish "new forms of digital sovereignty".
He emphasized, "Models are the foundation and the important part of differentiation and a competitive advantage."
Adobe's CEO highlighted India's potential to develop global teams and competitive products through LLMs, AI agents and low-code tools, presenting a significant opportunity for the country's outsourcing sector to advance and establish new AI-driven processes.
He emphasised India's capability to demonstrate ethical AI leadership globally, noting that AI would enable the country to expand upon its existing strengths in mobile infrastructure and payments systems to develop innovative business frameworks.
The CEO pointed out that AI technology would enable startups to swiftly develop, evaluate and expand solutions specifically designed for local and regional requirements.
He noted that India currently hosts more than 100 million content creators, with a consistent 10 per cent yearly increase in independent creators and small design studios throughout the past decade.
He further mentioned that over 500 million Indians access over-the-top content via mobile devices, facilitated by cost-effective mobile internet services.
Additionally, Adobe announced its collaboration with TCS to introduce an AI-powered Creative Experience Studio (ACES) specifically for the Indian market, targeting both corporate and government enterprises.