Kingston University welcomes Adobe leaders to campus as part of growing Future Skills collaboration

Senior leaders from global software company Adobe visited Kingston University to explore opportunities to deepen their growing strategic partnership, centred around preparing students with the Future Skills needed for career success.

The University has been working with Adobe – whose platforms and tools support creativity, productivity and personalised customer experiences through agentic AI – for several years to help prepare students for a rapidly changing world of work as part of its sector-leading Future Skills programme. 

During the visit, executive teams from Adobe’s UK and US operations were welcomed to the University’s award-winning Town House building at Penrhyn Road and given a tour of Kingston School of Art’s Knights Park campus, where they saw how creativity, technology and practical learning were embedded across the student experience.

Every undergraduate student at Kingston University now benefits from Future Skills education as a core, assessed part of each year of their course, working directly with industry to help develop their Future Skills alongside their subject-specific learning. 

Future Skills are the human-centric skills identified by more than 2,000 industry leaders as being vital for students to thrive in their careers, through the University’s regular surveys with business. They include creative problem solving, adaptability, collaboration, empathy and a questioning mindset – skills that are increasingly important in a workplace being transformed by AI and digital innovation.

Preparing students to help shape a changing workplace

As one of a select group of global universities recognised as an Adobe Creative Campus, Kingston University students and staff have access to Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Express and Adobe Firefly, supporting students in their Future Skills development.

Through live projects, Adobe is also helping bring these attributes to life for students. Last academic year, the firm worked with 150 second-year students from marketing and advertising and creative and cultural industries courses. Students explored the use of generative AI in creative and academic work, as well as the relationship between productivity, creativity and sustainability, using Adobe Express to develop insights and solutions.

Adobe has also taken part in a business and political round table with the University as part of its Future Skills campaign, as well as contributing to its most recent Future Skills report and attending the report’s launch event in Parliament. Earlier this year, a group of Kingston University leaders were invited to Adobe’s London headquarters to discuss further opportunities for collaborations.

Mohamed Elrefai, Senior Director and Head of Worldwide Education at Adobe, who delivered the keynote address at the University’s People Awards last year, said the growing strategic partnership showed how effective collaborations of this nature could be.

“Adobe’s relationship with Kingston University has taken on many forms and has been incredibly beneficial and rewarding. It really reflects our shared commitment to empowering students to develop the skills to harness emerging technologies in what is a fast-changing world. It’s an exciting time as we explore how to further expand our partnership around Future Skills, creativity and proactivity,” he said.

Mala Sharma, Vice President of Student Product and Marketing at Adobe HQ in the US, highlighted the impact Kingston University’s distinctive approach to practical learning was having. “Experiencing firsthand Kingston School of Art’s philosophy of thinking through making – which involves testing out ideas in a hands-on way, rather than relying solely on theory – has been a real highlight for me,” she said. “I feel the leadership here at the University is truly forward thinking and, from an Adobe standpoint, really aligns with the way we think about innovation, and how innovation is an accelerant for creative voices.”

Enhancing graduate employability

Adobe has worked with the University’s Employer Engagement team since 2022, supporting its placement programme and providing live briefs, portfolio reviews, workshops and mentoring. Through the Adobe Creative Apprenticeship Programme, 11 Adobe mentors have offered portfolio reviews to 80 students, resulting in four commissions.

Professor Kathy Curtis, Provost for Kingston School of Art and the Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education, and the Senior Leadership Team Sponsor for Future Skills, said the relationship demonstrated the value of bringing higher education and industry together.

“Our partnership with Adobe is a really good example of the value of bringing universities and industry together to create opportunities for students through our Future Skills approach,” she said. “For us, it’s about giving all students the chance to take the skills they’re learning and apply them alongside their disciplinary knowledge in industry settings. That experience can make a real difference – helping students build confidence, develop and apply their skills and see how their ideas and creativity can translate beyond the classroom into the future world of work.”

• Find out more about Kingston University’s sector-leading Future Skills approach to education.