Adobe 2026 AI and Digital Trends Report
For Adobe’s 16th annual AI and Digital Trends research, Oxford Economics surveyed 3,000 executives and practitioners and 4,000 customers globally to better understand how organizations are leveraging AI to capture customer interest, build brand loyalty, and augment CX workflows—and how customers are responding to these changes.
Our findings reveal early wins from generative AI and ambitious plans for agentic AI. But they also show that many organizations lack the foundations needed to turn these ambitions into reality, as data remains fragmented, alignment between executives and day-to-day practitioners is uneven, and enterprise-wide deployment is still rare. Customers, meanwhile, are optimistic about many AI-driven experiences, but may not be ready to cede control of sensitive information or important decisions to agents.
Read our reports to uncover the critical gaps holding brands back, explore which AI experiences customers embrace and which give them pause, and learn how brands can balance automation with transparency.
The experts behind the research
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Edward ConeEditorial Director, Thought Leadership
Editorial Director Edward Cone oversees global research programs for our Thought Leadership group. As Technology Practice Lead he works with clients such as Google, Accenture, IBM, SAP, and many others. His areas of focus include Artificial Intelligence, the impact of technology on business performance, and healthcare organizations.
Edward joined the firm in 2012 after more than two decades as a business and technology journalist based in New York, Paris, and North Carolina, including stints as an editor and writer at various Ziff Davis magazines (CIO Insight, Baseline), a contributing editor at Wired, and a staff writer at Forbes.
Edward also wrote a weekly newspaper opinion column for many years in his hometown of Greensboro, NC and authored a semi-popular blog. He has contributed to a bewildering variety of magazines and papers on topics ranging from politics to rock climbing and was a frequent speaker and organizer at new media conferences across the country. Honors for his work include the 2020 Rybczynski Prize, awarded for the best essay on economics by Society of Professional Economists, and various awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the North Carolina Press Association. He has a BA from Haverford College.
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Sundus AlfiSenior Editor, Thought Leadership
Sundus manages research programs for the Thought Leadership team, focusing on topics like generative AI, customer experiences, sustainability, and the future of work. She is involved in all aspects of research, from drafting hypotheses and designing global executive, employee, and consumer surveys to analyzing large datasets and reporting on the results in briefing papers and graphics. She also has experience conducting interviews, writing case studies, and presenting her research in webinars.
Sundus graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018 with degrees in Public Policy and Economics.
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Aidan O’FarrellResearch Manager, Thought Leadership
Aidan joined the Oxford Economics team in 2023 to support the Thought Leadership technology practice on research programs and project operations. Coming from a product management background, Aidan previously shepherded his growth ops team at a pre-seed tech startup through Series A funding. His prior experience includes extensive work on survey writing, design, coding, and data analysis, and he holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree in the History of Science & Technology from Brown University.
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Revan AponsoResearch Associate, Thought Leadership
Revan's research experience covers a variety of areas from venture capital and affordable lending to supply chain logistics and advanced manufacturing. Revan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from New York University, where he also served as a staff writer for the university's Economics Review.
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