Adobe brings 70-plus creative tools to Slack, acquires Indian startup Rilo

The Adobe for Slack MCP app is available starting today to Slack Business+ and Enterprise+ users on desktop, web and mobile, Adobe said. The app works through Slackbot, letting users call on Photoshop, Firefly, Adobe Express, Premiere, Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator, Stock and Lightroom without leaving Slack. Slackbot can pull context from messages, files, channels and Canvases before invoking an Adobe tool, Adobe said.

For example, Adobe said users can ask Slackbot to summarize a project brief and turn it into a PDF, image or video. The app can search Creative Cloud assets by subject, style or mood and bring them into a Slack workflow. It can also resize campaign creative for social platforms, turn spreadsheet data into a shareable visual, refine photo batches, remove backgrounds and distractions, adjust lighting and tone, crop images and produce multiple variations.

Users can start using the app without an Adobe account; signing in unlocks additional tools, generative AI features, Creative Cloud files and session continuity, Adobe said.

Deepti Pradeep, Adobe’s senior director for agentic AI, told TechCrunch by email that “in focus groups, people talked about the value they get from this experience very clearly: saving time, getting to the outcome they want faster without having to micromanage every step, being able to access Adobe wherever they’re already working. That’s been interesting for us because it’s pushed us to think less about individual edits and more about the larger outcome someone is trying to get to.”

The Slack launch expands Adobe’s broader push into AI assistants. Adobe said it already supports ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot, and a Gemini integration is planned. Last month, Adobe introduced a similar integration for ChatGPT.

Separately, Adobe confirmed to TechCrunch that it has acquired Rilo, a marketing-intelligence startup founded in 2025 by Indian Institute of Technology batchmates Georgi Boby and Dhruv Jaglan. Terms were not disclosed. The acquisition is Adobe’s second from India after buying video platform Rephrase.ai in 2023. Adobe declined to comment beyond confirming the deal.

Rilo had raised $1 million from PeakXV, DeVC and Day Zero Ventures at a $10 million valuation, according to TechCrunch. A source told TechCrunch that investors will get an exit and Adobe will integrate some of Rilo’s intellectual property along with its six-member team. Rilo’s platform helped go-to-market teams build custom workflows for competitor intelligence, content repurposing and distribution, and sales-call analysis, comparable to tools such as Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work. TechCrunch reported that Rilo will shut down and no longer be available to its customers.

Rahul Gupta, managing partner at Day Zero Ventures, told TechCrunch in an email: “We’re very excited that Rilo has been acquired by Adobe in such a short span of time. Their workflow builder product was way ahead of the curve and shall be extremely valuable to a giant like Adobe in enhancing customer experience and productivity.”

DeVC’s Rahul Mathur said Rilo could fit into Adobe’s customer-experience and marketing suite to help handle complex workflows and give customers visibility into actions on Adobe’s platform. Adobe’s rivals, including Canva, have also been expanding their marketing portfolios through acquisitions and new AI-powered tools.