Adobe Summit 2025: Reflections from a First-Time Attendee
By Ollie Hunt, Representing the Magento Association
Adobe Summit 2025 was big, and as a first-time attendee, I was genuinely blown away by the scale of the event. The diversity of attendees really stood out to me: one moment you're chatting with someone deeply embedded in marketing strategy, the next you're in conversation with a government official working extensively with Adobe Sign. The breadth and depth of the Adobe ecosystem are absolutely staggering.
Commerce in Focus
As someone rooted in the world of commerce, it was great to see such a strong commerce focus across sessions and conversations. Here are some of my key highlights and takeaways:
Community Moments
We kicked things off at the Adobe Commerce Pre-Party, brilliantly organised by ShipperHQ and the Magento Association, sponsored by Adobe, Avalara, Platform.sh, Klaviyo, and JH. It was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces and meet new ones. While it might not feel exactly like the “old days” of the Magento community, there’s definitely a new buzz emerging—and it's exciting to watch the community evolve.
Major Commerce Announcements
The Adobe Commerce Stable was a big talking point this year. Here’s the current landscape as laid out by Adobe:
Magento Open Source
The foundation of open innovation. Adobe reinforced its commitment to ongoing support. They aren’t talking about a sunset; their focus is on stability. For the Magento community, that’s clear permission to keep building. (Note: no App Builder here - extensions only.)
Adobe Commerce (On-Premise)
Think of it as Magento Open Source + extra firepower. Merchants still managing their own infrastructure have both extension and App Builder ecosystems available to them.
Adobe Commerce Cloud
This version integrates more tightly with the broader Adobe suite. It supports hybrid extension and App Builder ecosystems, offering flexibility and innovation.
Adobe Commerce Cloud as a Service (SaaS)
This was a highlight for me. I got hands-on during the lab session, and it’s a slick, modern offering. With a new architecture and rapid deployment capabilities, it’s clearly aimed at merchants in the $20M–$300M range. It reduces infrastructure overhead and brings deeper integration with the Adobe ecosystem, positioning Adobe as a strong competitor to Shopify’s upmarket push.
Adobe Commerce Optimizer
This is a standout. It acts as a performance layer over any eCommerce backend, enabling edge-delivered, headless storefronts and composable catalogues. It's all about fast, shoppable experiences, and it’s genuinely impressive.
Bottom line: Adobe now offers a full spectrum of commerce solutions, from monolith to SaaS. What other vendor covers that breadth?
Beyond the product roadmap, what really stood out was the people. The Adobe team was present, approachable, and clearly investing in community connections. Bridges are being built, and the opportunities ahead for the Magento and Adobe Commerce communities are genuinely exciting.
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