India’s next economic boom will not be in software but creativity: Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.

India’s creative industry, backed by artificial intelligence (AI), can employ more people than the manufacturing sector, Adobe chief executive officer Shantanu Narayen said on May 1.

“Bharat ka agla (Bharat's next) boom in economy will not be in software but in creativity,” he said, referring to the IT services industry. Narayen was speaking on Day 1 of the inaugural World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai's Jio World Centre.

The four-day summit, which has an extensive list of speakers from the entertainment world, aims to boost the potential of the media and entertainment industry that reached a revenue of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2024.

“For over four decades, Adobe has helped in designing over 20,000 magazines and with several videos. AI ke saath creativity (creativity with AI). It is exciting to see that momentum come to India. India's creative industry can employ more people than the manufacturing industry,” he said.

Over a billion people have used Adobe software and people are using this to empower creators, the CEO said.

“We will support Prime Minster Modi in making India the world creativity capital,” he added.

Adobe, in collaboration with the information and broadcasting ministry, will  deeply invest in skilling and plans to reach two crore students and five lakh teachers through partnerships with the Indian Institute of Creative Technology, Pratham, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Jio.

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In collaboration with WAVES, Adobe will take Indian talent to the global stage with initiatives like Creator Challenge, he said.

“Modi also asked us to work on protecting intellectual property. In conjunction with the ministry, we are working on content credentials which supports the adoption of AI rights framework that will safeguard the originality and ensure transparency in this new era of Gen AI," Narayen said.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said seven large companies, including Google, Adobe, and Nvidia, are collaborating with the government to develop the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) to help get young creators to be ready for future.

The institute, being developed for the media and entertainment sector on the lines of the IITs and IIMs, has been allocated Rs 400 crore by the Centre with the Maharashtra government providing land.

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