Some people like being comfortable. Vince Abney (BBA ’08) isn’t one of them, and it’s what’s driven him to make some major pivots throughout his business career.
“I have this growth mindset of wanting to be continuously learning and challenging myself,” says Abney. “If I ever feel like I’ve stagnated or plateaued, that’s the time to make the jump.”
It’s an approach that’s served him well, taking him from Wisconsin’s Fox Valley to Silicon Valley. He’s led teams, earned promotions, delivered exceptional growth—and isn’t afraid to try something new.
So, when the opportunity arose to join Adobe and dive into the emerging field of artificial intelligence, he didn’t hesitate.
“What drew me to this role was the opportunity to work at the intersection of creativity, productivity, and generative AI,” says Abney, who joined Adobe in 2024 as principal for corporate strategic partnerships. “So far, it’s been really exciting. It’s also been really challenging, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Born to bounce
Growing up in Neenah, Wisconsin—the epicenter of paper country—Abney always believed a career in the consumer packaged goods industry was in the cards.
“It was just expected you’d go and work for a big CPG company,” says Abney, whose dad and uncle both worked for hometown company Kimberly-Clark. Intrigued by his uncle’s financial role with the company, Abney would pursue a finance major after being accepted into UW–Madison.
At WSB, he enjoyed learning from instructors like Loren Kuzuhara (MBA ’93, PhD ’94) and Belinda Mucklow, and appreciated the real-life examples they brought to class. He also credits advising staff with helping him secure a finance internship at Kimberly-Clark, which primed him for a position at Procter & Gamble after graduation.
“I can draw a very clear line between my work and how it makes a positive impact in someone’s life.”
—Vince Abney (BBA ’08)
There, he worked as a cost analyst and finance manager before pivoting into brand management. Working with products like Downy and Bounce, Abney found his business skill set being expanded, thanks to P&G’s cross-functional approach to its work.
“You had to be very knowledgeable about every other function that was related to your brand,” Abney says. “I needed to understand the finances almost as well as the actual finance manager. Same thing with sales and consumer market knowledge.”
Abney credits P&G with helping him build a strong foundation of business skills that served him well when making his next big career pivot—one that would take him off the CPG path and onto something new.
Getting into the game
Looking to break into the tech industry, Abney applied to and was accepted into the MBA program at Stanford University, where he developed an interest in strategic partnerships: something he describes as the “connective tissue” between a business’ internal teams and external partners.
But even with his expanded business education, he initially experienced rejection when trying to secure a tech job. Dozens of applications and interviews later, his persistence paid off when Google came calling with a job offer.
Over the next nine years, he’d hold a variety of strategic partnership roles at Google, primarily focused on monetization efforts within the mobile apps and gaming spaces. He’d quickly be promoted to more senior positions and lead his team to achieve over $1 billion in annual revenue.
Then, as global head of gaming publisher partnerships at YouTube, Abney worked alongside gaming partners to amplify their major marketing moments. That included working with Rockstar Games on the record-breaking release of the first Grand Theft Auto VI trailer, which racked up over 90 million views in the 24 hours after release.
Even while enjoying such successful performance metrics and revenue statistics, Abney saw an emerging technology gaining steam in the industry—and decided the time was right to take a chance on a new position centered around AI.
Comfort is overrated
At Adobe, Abney uses his negotiation skills to strike mutually beneficial deals between the company and other players in the tech and generative AI spaces.
“We’re trying to build strategic partnerships to integrate our products into their platforms, driving innovation and expanding our market reach,” says Abney. “We’re also working to ensure that when innovating with AI, we’re doing so ethically and in a way that helps users express their creativity more effectively.”
The result of this work has implications for Adobe’s flagship products, including Photoshop, Acrobat, and Illustrator. With millions of users relying on these programs, it’s a responsibility he takes seriously.
“There are people whose entire livelihoods are dependent upon our products,” he says. “That’s pressure, but it’s good pressure. I can draw a very clear line between my work and how it makes a positive impact in someone’s life.”
As he gets acquainted with his new role, Abney is leading with the same passion that made him successful in previous positions. At any point along the way, he could have settled for comfort—but where’s the fun in that?
“I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that making these moves carries a bit of a risk,” he says. “But what I’m most proud of is never letting the fear of the unknown prevent me from pursuing career pivots that would allow me to expand my influence in new and meaningful ways.”