At an event in the heart of London, US giant Adobe last week made its big commitment to generative AI, introducing two new tools: Firefly and Sensei GenAi. The market responded positively to his revelations. The company stands behind some of the world’s most popular software tools for its own sake, and with generative AI, it hopes to reach new heights. Luc Dammann, President of Adobe EMEA, speaks with CincoDías in an interview conducted during the Adobe Summit. The manager, who has 20 years of technology experience behind him, reflects on the potential this technology can provide to his clients and his company.
Q: How have things been at Adobe this year so far?
Answer: We are an outstanding company. We’ve seen a lot of uncertainty across the board, as many of our customers have been facing headwinds to their businesses. If you analyze the quarterly results for the past few years, we’re in pretty good shape. With a good reputation and strong financial position, we remain focused on improving margins. At Adobe Summit, we focused on products that will help make companies more creative, productive, and efficient.
s: From a geographical perspective, what is Adobe’s position in Spain?
a: We see potential in Europe in general. We consider the region the main lever for future growth. We are very proud of agreements like the one we have with Real Madrid. They have chosen our technology to support their global business. We are very successful in general in the European financial sector, and in Spain, which is a very large country in which this sector is also. For us it is a very important market. We have invested in Spain. It is a country at the forefront of innovation.
Q: In late 2022, Adobe announced a $20 billion deal to purchase the Figma design platform in the US; What role do you expect this company to play?
a: I’m not the right person [en la empresa] To comment on Adobe’s intent.
Q: Focusing on another key point, what opportunities does AI provide for Adobe?
a: We talk about generative AI, but we are not new to this field. Across our three major product groups – Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and Customer Experience – we’ve been in the business of AI-related innovation for years. We see artificial intelligence as a kind of co-pilot. Take the creative part as an example. Many of the people we spoke to tell us that they waste time on repetitive, low-value-added tasks that prevent them from focusing on the creative part. The role we see for AI is to free you from these tasks in order to focus on the more creative part. Generative AI will be plate tectonic motion. If used responsibly, it will be a productivity multiplier.
Q: How can generative AI help a company in a tangible way?
a: Our generative AI is Firefly. Specifically, you can write instructions for changing the content to your liking. If you want to add a snow background, you can do so just by typing it. There is a global appetite to take advantage of this technology. What we’re going to do with this technology is bring creativity to everyone. It helps professionals in the sense that it frees them from boring and repetitive tasks, thus making them more productive. For regular people, it makes it easy to create your own content.
Q: How can AI help a company sell more?
a: At this point, we should talk about Experience Cloud. It is the service we provide to companies to manage customer experience in all aspects. Customers require customization. What is happening can be summed up by saying that it is not possible to generate a competitive advantage today with the product alone. No matter how good it is, it is not enough. However, if customer experience is taken care of, it will be possible to create a competitive advantage. In a context where expectations change so quickly, companies need to adapt quickly.
s: What exactly is changing?
a: Although on a global scale, the change in consumption is most noticeable in Europe. Economic uncertainty and a war on the horizon are accelerating what began with the pandemic. First, consumer loyalty has exploded. You cannot assume that customers will return to you. It’s hard to win, but really easy to lose. If the offer is misleading or irrelevant, you will immediately lose confidence. The second is the constant change of what consumers want. Brands need to listen and make requests in near real time. The third aspect is that consumers are reluctant to classify them into consumer segments, they seek to treat them as individuals. A recent study we conducted in Europe with over 30,000 consumers showed that their top priority was how good the consumer experience was, ranking second on the list of priorities above price. The challenge is enormous for companies, because they must improve the shopping experience for millions of consumers. Whoever succeeds will have a competitive advantage.
Q: Was the price really a close second? Many people have to worry about it when buying…
a: Not only is improving the shopper experience a competitive advantage, but it is also a way to justify a higher price. The study shows that people are willing to pay more for better service with better guarantees. Of course, this means that you really should provide that better service.
s: What makes Firefly different from other AI systems like Midjourney for example?
a: I’m no Midjourney expert, but I can tell you that Firefly doesn’t come out of nowhere. For more than 10 years, we have integrated AI and machine learning into our products as part of our vision for innovation. To provide a relevant service to our customers, we had to combine data management with the creative part. The only company that has content creation, content distribution, and data analytics in its DNA is Adobe. Firefly is the natural next step in everything we offer. With this artificial intelligence, we will make it easier to do creatives. I believe this AI will boost adoption of our products. It’s the most differentiated AI solution available today, designed to be safe for commercial use and built transparently with content credentials to show how content is created and edited.
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