Scott Belsky has announced his departure from Adobe to join independent film studio A24 as a partner. This decision marks the end of a key chapter for Adobe, in which Belsky played a central role in the evolution of tools dedicated to creatives and photographers.
Scott Belsky’s legacy at Adobe
Co-founder of Behance (a platform acquired by Adobe in 2012 for $150 million), Belsky led Creative Cloud’s product strategy for 7 years, overseeing major events such as the launch ofAdobe Express, a simplified authoring tool, the extension of Photoshop and Illustrator to mobile and web, and the Content Authenticity Initiative to combat deepfakes and guarantee content authenticity.
His return in 2017, after a hiatus in venture capital, accelerated the integration of generative AI via Firefly.
A departure with strategic consequences?
His departure raises questions about emerging projects at the heart of Adobe, such as 3D tools and AI, areas where Scott Belsky was a driving force.
However, its failed attempt to acquire Figma ($20 billion, blocked by regulators in 2023) marked a strategic setback.
Adobe may be losing a visionary, but it’s keeping its strengths: Creative Cloud generates more than half of Adobe’s revenues, and Firefly is doing very well against the competition, with 6 billion images generated since 2023.
The challenge will be to maintain innovation in the face of competition from AI while honoring Adobe’s promise: ” Creativity for everyone “.
At A24, Scott Belsky will be working in particular on “developing tools and resources to support the creative vision of filmmakers”. A potentially very interesting market for Adobe in the near future.
” After 7 years at Adobe, I’m immersing myself in the fast-changing world of cinema,” he said, while remaining the company’s ” technology partner “. Adobe CMO Lara Balazs welcomes future collaboration with A24 to ” advance the art of storytelling “.
