Adobe's bet on "agentic" AI and deeper ties between its two main cloud platforms could help it stand out with large corporate customers over the next year, according to RBC Capital Markets.
In a note released Tuesday, the investment bank said Adobe's competitive edge lies in how its tools connect. The design applications in Creative Cloud can feed content directly into Experience Cloud, which helps companies manage marketing campaigns and customer data. That integration, RBC argues, creates a seamless workflow that rivals may find hard to replicate.
The bank's central theme is "agentic" AI—software that can perform multi-step tasks on its own. Instead of just generating a single image or text snippet, an agentic system might create multiple ad variations, push them into a marketing campaign, and then suggest next steps based on how the ads perform. For Adobe, this means its tools could become more valuable and more deeply embedded in customers' daily operations.
Why the integration matters
Adobe has long sold two separate product families. Creative Cloud is the suite of design tools—Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro—that creative professionals use to make content. Experience Cloud is the marketing and analytics platform that helps businesses deliver that content to customers, manage customer data, and measure campaign performance.
Historically, these products were sold and used somewhat independently. But Adobe has been pushing to connect them, so that a designer's work in Creative Cloud can flow directly into a marketing campaign in Experience Cloud. RBC believes this synergy is a key reason Adobe can differentiate itself with enterprise clients, who increasingly want a single vendor that can handle both content creation and customer engagement.
The bank also pointed to growing partnerships following Adobe's MAX conference, the company's annual user event. These partnerships, RBC said, could expand Adobe's reach and add new capabilities, supporting results through 2026 and beyond.
The agentic AI wave
Agentic AI is one of the hottest themes in tech right now. Unlike earlier AI tools that respond to a single prompt, agentic systems can plan and execute a series of actions to achieve a goal. In the enterprise world, this could mean automating entire workflows—like generating a batch of marketing assets, testing them, and deploying the best performers.
For Adobe, the opportunity is to make its software more "sticky." If a company's marketing team relies on Adobe's AI agents to run campaigns, switching to a competitor becomes more disruptive. That could translate into higher retention rates and more predictable revenue, which investors tend to reward.
Adobe is not alone in chasing this trend. Other software companies are also investing heavily in AI agents, and the broader market has seen a surge of interest in what some call the "agentic internet." But RBC's note suggests Adobe's unique position—owning both the creative tools and the marketing platform—gives it an advantage that pure-play competitors may lack.
What it means for investors
For everyday investors, the key takeaway is that Adobe's growth story increasingly hinges on AI and cross-platform integration. The company has faced concerns about slowing growth and competition from AI startups that offer cheap, generative tools. But RBC's analysis suggests Adobe's enterprise relationships and full-stack approach could provide a buffer.
Investors should watch how well Adobe can convert its AI features into actual revenue. The company has already introduced AI-powered features across its products, and management has said they are seeing strong adoption. But the real test will be whether these features lead to higher spending from existing customers and attract new ones.
Another factor to monitor is the pace of partnerships and integrations announced after MAX. If Adobe can line up major customers and technology partners, that would validate RBC's optimism. Conversely, any signs that AI features are not driving meaningful revenue growth could weigh on the stock.
It's also worth noting that Adobe's stock has been volatile as investors weigh the AI opportunity against the risk of disruption. The company's valuation remains premium relative to the broader market, so expectations are high. Any misstep could lead to sharp sell-offs, as seen with other software stocks that have disappointed on growth.
Overall, RBC's note adds to a growing chorus of analysts who see Adobe as a potential beneficiary of the AI shift, rather than a victim. The company's ability to weave AI into its existing tools—and to connect those tools in ways competitors can't easily match—could be the key to sustaining growth through 2026 and beyond.
For more on Adobe's AI strategy, see our earlier coverage of Adobe's bet on AI agents and its partnership with Disney to build private AI models. The broader shift toward agentic AI is also reshaping other software companies, as seen in Cloudflare's recent growth.
