Airtel Adobe Partnership Brings Free Adobe Express Premium to 360 Million Indian Users

Airtel bundles free Adobe Express Premium for its 360 million users

Bharti Airtel is providing free access to Adobe Express Premium for one year to its 360 million mobile and broadband customers. This offer, valued at Rs 4,000, is available to all Airtel users. Customers can activate the subscription through the AirtelThanks App without needing a credit card. New Delhi: Bharti Airtel in a first-of-its-kind offering, is bundling free access to Adobe Express Premium to its 360 million mobile and broadband users. The landmark partnership will provide access to worth Rs 4,000 of digital creativity tools for one year to users free of cost. The offer is available to all Airtel users including mobile, WiFi and DTH. Customers can avail themselves of this subscription by logging on to the AirtelThanks App, with no credit card requirement. "This partnership is about more than technology. It is about empowering millions of Indians with cutting-edge AI tools to create and innovate. From a student crafting their first resume to a small business owner designing a poster or a creator editing videos for followers, we wantto empower every Airtel customer with the tools for self-expression. With Adobe Express, world-class creative tools are no longer a luxury -- they're a reality for every Indian," Siddharth Sharma, CEO, Connected Homes and Director of Marketing, Airtel said in a statement. The Adobe Express Premium subscription provides access to thousands of professional design templates - including ones tailored for Indian festivals, weddings, and local businesses -- along with AI-powered features like instant background removal, custom image generation, and one-tap video editing, premium Adobe Stock assets, over 30,000 professional fonts, 100GB cloud storage, and advanced features like auto captions and instant resize -- all with no watermarks and seamless sync across devices. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

In a global first, Airtel provides 360 million Indians with free access to Adobe Express Premium

Unlocks effortless design creation with Adobe's AI powered tool worth ~₹4,000*, available at no cost for all Airtel customers Bharti Airtel, one of India's largest telecommunication service providers, is putting the power of Adobe Express, the quick-and-easy, create-anything app, into the hands of its 360 million customers across India. This landmark and first-of-its-kind partnership will provide access to Adobe Express Premium to all Airtel customers for creating high-quality social assets, marketing materials, short videos and anything they wish to design quickly and effortlessly. With the Adobe Express Premium worth ~₹4,000* now available for free for a year, all Airtel customers can express their creative abilities and produce professional-quality content, regardless of their design experience. The Adobe Express Premium subscription will be available to all Airtel customers, including mobile, Wi-Fi and DTH customers. Customers can avail themselves of this subscription by logging on to the Airtel Thanks App, with no credit card requirement. Commenting on the partnership, Siddharth Sharma, CEO -- Connected Homes and Director -- Marketing, Bharti Airtel, said, "This partnership is about more than technology. It is about empowering millions of Indians with cutting-edge AI tools to create and innovate. From a student crafting their first resume to a small business owner designing a poster or a creator editing videos for followers, we want to empower every Airtel customer with the tools for self-expression. With Adobe Express, world-class creative tools are no longer a luxury -- they're a reality for every Indian." "We are committed to empowering everyone to create and stand out with Adobe Express, the quick and easy create-anything app," said David Wadhwani, President, Creativity & Productivity Business, Adobe. "We are excited to partner with Airtel to bring Adobe Express Premium to millions of people across India for free, accelerating the growth of India's vibrant creator economy and enabling people to easily produce standout content, whether boosting their careers, growing their businesses or promoting their passions." Adobe Express Premium puts the best of Adobe in people's hands. The subscription provides access to thousands of professional design templates - including ones tailored for Indian festivals, weddings, and local businesses, along with AI-powered features like instant background removal, custom image generation, and one-tap video editing, premium Adobe Stock assets, over 30,000 professional fonts, 100GB cloud storage, and advanced features like auto captions and instant resize, all with no watermarks and seamless sync across devices. Adobe Express is available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali, allowing users the comfort of leveraging features in their native languages. Whether creating festival greeting cards, wedding invitations or promotional content for local shops or WhatsApp Status updates, Adobe Express makes standout content accessible to everyone. Real-World Impact of Adobe Express Premium with Airtel With this partnership, all Airtel customers can now leverage Adobe Express Premium's powerful generative AI capabilities to work faster, enhance the quality of their creations, and stand out in a crowded digital space in the following ways: * Creators & Influencers: Creators can instantly produce content that reflects their unique identity -- from attire to language nuance, reshaping online expression. Easy-to-use video editing tools and AI effects make it effortless to create viral-ready content, from Reels to YouTube thumbnails. * Consumers: Adobe Express allows people to easily connect with friends and family through a large library of professional designs to celebrate festivals, wish good morning or send personalised invitations. * Students: Build standout projects, dynamic presentations and portfolios, while developing essential skills like digital communication. * Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs: Anyone looking to build their business or professional brand can design social media ads, marketing posters, QR codes, logos and more -- in minutes -- saving time and costs. * Marketers: Advertisers and marketers can produce on-brand visuals and campaigns that reflect their authentic identities, traditions and environments, moving beyond the sea of sameness created by generic templates. Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 600 million customers in 15 countries across India and Africa. The company also has its presence in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka through its associate entities. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India's largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel's retail portfolio includes high-speed 4G/5G mobile, Wi-Fi (FTTH+ FWA) that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, video streaming services, digital payments and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, and cloud-based communication. Airtel's digital arm - Xtelify, empowers telcos globally to leverage the power of AI, data and technology to accelerate their digital transformation and drive growth. Xtelify also offers Airtel Cloud in India enabling enterprises with a sovereign, telco-grade cloud platform that guarantees secure migration, effortless scaling, lower costs and no vendor lock-ins. Within its diversified portfolio, Airtel also offers passive infrastructure services through its subsidiary Indus Tower Ltd.

Airtel partners with Adobe to offer free Express Premium subscription to 360 million customers

Adobe says the partnership supports its "creativity for all" mission and aims to lower barriers for students, creators, small businesses and everyday users across India. Adobe and Airtel have entered in a partnership which will give more than 360 million Airtel customers access to Adobe Express Premium for one year. This is first-of-its kind partnership for Adobe which will ensure has announced that one of the largest consumer rollouts of a creative software subscription in the country. "We are excited to partner with Airtel to bring Adobe Express Premium to millions of people across India for free, accelerating the growth of India's vibrant creator economy and enabling people to easily produce standout content - whether boosting their careers, growing their businesses or promoting their passions," said David Wadhwani, President, Creativity and Productivity Business, Adobe. Under the partnership, Airtel customers will be able to use Adobe Express Premium, normally priced at around Rs 4,000 per year, to create professional quality designs, social media assets, marketing materials and short videos without requiring prior design experience. The offer is available to all Airtel users, including mobile, broadband and DTH subscribers, and can be activated through the Airtel Thanks App without the need for a credit card. "We are extremely excited about this partnership as it is a unique opportunity to democratise creativity at scale. It will help pretty much every Indian, be it a small and medium business owner, or a student, or an entrepreneur, or a regular consumer, express themselves beautifully and professionally, depending on what their intent is," Govind Balakrishnan, SVP and GM, Adobe Express told Times Now Tech. He said that the announcement is in line with Adobe's mission to ensure creativity for all. Govind that the access to Express Premium will empower everyone to create as the barrier to entry is lowered. He added that the Airtel Thanks App felt like a natural extension in this regard as it will help with better discovery of Express Premium. When asked if Adobe has put a number on the users it aims to acquire through this partnership, Govind said, "We obviously have a very ambitious target, which is why we are excited about this partnership." Adobe Express is positioned as a quick-and-easy, create-anything app that combines ready-made templates with AI-powered tools. The Premium subscription unlocks access to thousands of professional templates, including designs tailored specifically for Indian festivals, weddings and local businesses. It also includes advanced features such as instant background removal, AI-based image generation, one-tap video editing, auto captions and instant resize, along with premium Adobe Stock assets, more than 30,000 fonts, 100GB of cloud storage and watermark-free exports across devices. The partnership reflects a broader push to democratise access to creative and generative AI tools in India, particularly as content creation becomes central to personal branding, education and small business growth. Adobe Express is available in multiple Indian languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali, enabling users to create content in their preferred language and cultural context. The platform is designed to support everyday use cases ranging from festival greetings and wedding invitations to WhatsApp Status updates and promotional creatives for local shops. "Express as a product is all about removing friction to get to creative output. The creator economy in India is booming, and there are more and more creators coming in with creative intent into the space. And with Express, our focus and our priority has been to lower the barrier to entry in a very, very meaningful way. A lot of our focus and energy has also gone into understanding the intent of the user and providing the right set of templates to the right experience based on their intent," Govind explained. While he didn't share much details, Govind also confirmed that Adobe is looking at more India-first collaborations to make its tools and platforms available for more users. The collaboration is expected to have a wide-ranging impact across user segments. Creators and influencers can use AI-powered video and design tools to quickly produce content optimised for platforms such as Instagram Reels and YouTube. Consumers can design personalised invitations and festival messages, while students can build presentations, portfolios and academic projects that strengthen digital communication skills. Small businesses and entrepreneurs can create logos, posters, QR codes and social media ads in minutes, reducing both cost and time to market. Marketers and advertisers, meanwhile, can develop on-brand campaigns that better reflect local identities and contexts rather than relying on generic templates. The partnership also comes at a time when digital services are facing continuous pressure from Generative AI platforms. However, Adobe doesn't really see that as competition yet. "We don't look at any of these AI imaging tools and capabilities as something to compete with in isolation. Our approach to AI, and you're seeing this with Firefly, is to integrate these capabilities directly into what we consider a highly trusted end-to-end creative platform," Govind said, while adding that when creators use Firefly model, they are also sure that their creations are safe for commercial use. The Adobe Express Premium will be available to all Airtel users, starting today. They can access this through the Airtel Thanks app. The offer is valid for one year, with terms and conditions applying and will significantly expand the reach of Adobe's creative tools in one of its fastest-growing markets.