Creativity Is Entering A New Era, Says CEO Shantanu Narayen At MAX 2025 As Adobe Doubles Down On GenAI

At MAX 2025, happening in Los Angeles, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said creativity is entering a new era” as the company unveiled its most expansive set of AI-powered tools yet. These upgrades are led by

major improvements in Firefly, Adobe’s generative AI platform. But, bunch of new AI-powered features have been announced across Adobe platforms, including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Express and more. These new capabilities show why MAX is world’s biggest conference for creativity. “We are investing in creativity to ensure that creators move faster and create more,” Narayen said. “With Firefly, you have more options now, and our vision is to make it a one-stop solution from ideation to creation.”Firefly now serves as an all-in-one creative hub, integrating AI tools for audio, video, and design alongside new Firefly Boards, which is a collaborative ideation space for creators and professionals. Each Firefly model will have its own “character,” Narayen noted, allowing users to work across Adobe apps without switching contexts.“Our new generative AI features will allow creators to have pixel-level perfection,” he said, highlighting Firefly’s ability to produce end-to-end video, compose soundtracks and voiceovers, and edit thousands of images in bulk through Firefly Creative Production.Adobe also infused Creative Cloud apps with new AI-powered capabilities such as Generative Fill and Generative Upscale in Photoshop, and AI Object Mask in Premiere. These tools, Narayen said, are designed to enhance and not replace human creativity. “It’s the creators who bring the creativity which cannot be replaced,” he added.Alongside its proprietary Firefly models, Adobe now supports AI models from Google, OpenAI, Runway, and others, giving creators flexibility to choose the best fit for their projects. The new Firefly Custom Models let creators personalise AI generation in their own artistic style.Adobe’s AI assistants, powered by conversational and agentic AI, are being integrated directly into Firefly, Photoshop and Adobe Express to help anyone turn ideas into content through simple natural language prompts.“Creativity has always been at the core of Adobe’s mission,” Narayen said. “With Firefly, we’re empowering every creator to bring their imagination to life faster, smarter, and with greater freedom than ever before.”