A central part of the update is Adobe Creative Agent, which is expanding across Firefly and Creative Cloud. Users can describe what they want to accomplish in natural language and have the agent carry out more complicated tasks involving multiple actions.
In Firefly, the agent powers an updated AI Assistant, currently in beta, with new customization controls, Plan Mode and a Model Selector. Adobe is also previewing agents designed to handle recurring work, including organizing assets, reviewing content quality and preparing materials for different publishing channels. These agents can continue operating while users are away.
The expanded capabilities extend to Adobe's professional applications, with AI Assistants in beta for Illustrator, Premiere, InDesign, After Effects and Frame.io.
Adobe is also previewing local integrations using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing creative professionals to connect third-party AI agents to Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and After Effects. These integrations are designed to let agents modify native project files while preserving editable elements such as layers, video sequences and compositions.
The approach would allow users to work with AI agents outside Adobe's own ecosystem without sacrificing the editing capabilities of its professional software.
Beyond agent-based workflows, Adobe is expanding Firefly into a more comprehensive creative environment for video, audio, images and design. The platform brings together Adobe's tools with AI models from partners including Google, OpenAI, ByteDance, Kling, ElevenLabs and Topaz Labs.
Firefly Video introduces a unified environment for developing and assembling video projects, while Firefly Design, now in beta, combines illustration, animation, image editing, 3D and print design tools on one canvas.
For image editing, Adobe is adding more targeted controls through features including Edit Object, Relight and Retouch. These tools are intended to let users modify selected portions of an image without changing the rest of the composition, combining text-based instructions with manual adjustments.
Other additions include Quick Actions for common editing tasks and Firefly Graph, a beta tool for creating reusable workflows. Firefly Builder, available in private beta, allows users to develop interactive prototypes for websites, presentations and applications using natural-language instructions rather than code.
Creative Cloud is receiving separate improvements focused on professional editing and performance. Photoshop is gaining Generative Restyle and Relight, while Premiere is introducing Color Mode, a new color-grading system. Lightroom is adding Open Eyes in beta, and InDesign is introducing beta co-editing capabilities.
Adobe is also incorporating Topaz Labs' Wonder 4 and Image HDR models to support image enhancement tasks such as sharpening, noise reduction, deblurring and upscaling.
For enterprise customers, Adobe is bringing CX Enterprise Coworker into GenStudio, its platform for managing content production and marketing workflows. The conversational system will allow teams to coordinate campaign planning, content creation and activation through AI agents.
Adobe Brand Intelligence is also gaining expanded capabilities to help organizations maintain consistent branding across materials. Its Intelligent Reflow feature can adapt designs to different formats and dimensions, while brand guidance is being extended into Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Additional enterprise tools include Ideation Space in Workfront, which combines collaborative planning with campaign performance information, and Firefly 3D Digital Twin, which creates digital product replicas that teams can modify to produce new marketing images without repeatedly photographing physical products.
Adobe's announcements also include expanded partnerships with Google and Microsoft, extending its creative applications into other software environments and devices.
Through its Google partnership, Adobe plans to make Acrobat accessible within Google Workspace and expand connections with Gemini and Gemini Enterprise. Users will be able to work with PDFs, images and designs through conversational interfaces, while Adobe's creative tools will also become available through AI Mode in Google Search.
Google's image and video models will remain accessible through Adobe products including Firefly, Photoshop, Express and Premiere. Gemini models will contribute to AI functionality in Acrobat, and Adobe will work with Google DeepMind to explore additional Photoshop editing capabilities.
The Microsoft collaboration focuses on bringing optimized Adobe applications to Arm-based Windows computers. Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects and a beta version of Substance 3D Painter are among the supported applications. Adobe Express capabilities will also be integrated directly into Microsoft Photos.
Adobe separately announced a multi-year agreement with The Walt Disney Company, becoming an Official AI Innovation Partner. Under the arrangement, Adobe's AI technology will support concept development within Disney's innovation labs and its parks and cruise development operations, with an emphasis on protecting creative work.
The announcements come as Adobe prepares for a leadership transition, with President Anil Chakravarthy identified as the company's incoming chief executive.
Adobe MAX runs November 10–12 in Miami Beach, where the company is presenting the new capabilities to creative professionals, developers and enterprise marketing teams.
Together, the updates show Adobe placing greater emphasis on AI agents that can perform connected tasks across applications, while continuing to develop specialized editing tools. Several capabilities remain in beta or preview, but the broader direction is clear: Adobe is extending AI beyond content generation into the workflows used to create, revise and manage digital content.
This analysis is based on reporting from Adobe & Engadget.
Images courtesy of Adobe.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
