Publication Date: April 23, 2025
Source: Harvard Business School
In December 2022, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen faced a pivotal strategic decision due to the rapid rise of generative AI image models from OpenAI, Midjourney, and StabilityAI. Adobe, a leader in digital media and marketing software with a 40-year legacy of innovation and successful adaptation recognized GenAI as both an opportunity and a threat to its core business. Many creative professionals, a critical Adobe customer segment, expressed deep concerns over GenAI models trained through data mined from the Internet, raising ethical and trust-related issues. The case explores Narayen and his leadership team's deliberations: Should Adobe partner with or acquire an existing player, or build its own GenAI model? If Adobe chose to build, how might it responsibly train the model to protect its trusted relationship with enterprise and creative professional customers, while keeping its leadership position in the industry?
