This week at Adobe MAX, the software company unveiled new features across Firefly, Premiere, and Creative Cloud, with a focus on improving AI agents in each program.
Here’s what’s new:
Users can now choose between Adobe’s in-program AI assistants, or integrate their own OpenAI, Claude, and Gemini agents—allowing third-party agents to make changes to files across Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, and After Effects.
Adobe previewed “always-on” agents that can complete recurring tasks (like organizing assets or checking quality) in the background.
Firefly Design launched in beta, allowing creators to edit AI images, animations, and 3D models in one spot.
Alongside the announcements, Adobe released findings from a survey of 2,000 US creators on how they use AI in their creative workflows:
78% of respondents who use AI in their creative process say it has accelerated their business growth.
68% of creators who use creative AI say they settle for results that don’t match their vision.
59% of creators say AI agents save them time.
Why this matters: AI tools are becoming more capable, but creators aren't always satisfied with the results. Many users either struggle to understand how the tools work or find that the output doesn't meet their creative standards.
To help close that gap, Adobe is releasing ten free creator masterclasses over the next few months—led by creators like Kinigra Deon and Airrack. The goal is to help creators understand Adobe’s suite of AI tools and produce work that better matches their vision.
How we see it: Adobe is doubling down on AI, both through new features and partnerships with companies like Microsoft. But with some brands and creators choosing to avoid AI altogether, the question is whether better tools will be enough to win them over.
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