How I Accidentally Began My Journey With Adobe

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be building creative tools for Adobe Express and publishing videos and blog tutorials for developers, I probably would’ve laughed in your face.

This wasn’t the plan. I wasn’t strategizing or networking or plotting some grand career move. I wasn’t even aware that this world existed. But somehow, I ended up here anyway. And it’s completely changed the trajectory of my life.

The funny thing about unexpected opportunities is that they rarely announce themselves. They just kind of… happen. And if you’re paying attention, you grab them.

How Everything Started (Spoiler: It Was a Hackathon)

Let me take you back about a year ago.

I was participating in a Canva AI and Integration hackathon, honestly, just for fun and to build something. I created a plugin called Textify that takes an image and extracts its text using OCR and adds it directly to the design. It felt good to build. I was excited about it.

Then the results came in. I didn’t win.

I remember thinking, “Well, that’s that. Back to the drawing board.” I figured the story ended there. It was just a fun project that didn’t pan out. You know how it goes, you build something cool, show it around, and then life moves on.

Except it didn’t.

The Message That Changed Everything

A few weeks after the hackathon, my inbox chimed. There was a message from someone named Ingo from Adobe. He’d seen Textify and basically said: “Would you be interested in building a similar project as an add-on for Adobe Express (perhaps we can fund that)?”

I had no idea Adobe Express even had add-ons at that point.

I was genuinely confused. Fund me how? Build what, exactly? But I was curious, and honestly, a little overwhelmed. This was a door opening that I didn’t even know existed. So I did what any reasonable person would do in that moment: I said yes, despite having no clue what I was walking into.

Learning on the Job (A Lot of Trial and Error)

When I started rebuilding Textify for Adobe Express, I felt like a complete beginner. The documentation was unfamiliar. The platform was completely different from what I’d worked with. Every single thing was new. But the Adobe developer community is very helpful. Whenever I got stuck, I asked someone in the community, and they didn’t say no to help me.

But here’s the thing about obstacles: when you’re actually interested in what you’re building, they’re not nearly as painful as you’d think. Every bug I fixed, every time I had to rethink my approach… I was learning. Not just technical stuff, but patience, attention to detail, and the kind of consistency that matters when you’re shipping real products.

When Textify finally launched on Adobe Express, something hit me. Somewhere out there, someone was actually using something I made. They were opening the tool, using it in their creative workflow, and solving problems with it. That’s a wild feeling. I still remember thinking, “This is real.”

Finding Add-On Number Two

For a while after launching Textify, I wasn’t actively hunting for my next idea. I was just… working. Building things. And then one day, while I was tinkering with something else inside Adobe Express, I noticed something.

There wasn’t a straightforward way to convert code into beautiful, clean visual snippets directly in the editor. It was a gap, small, but clear. I sent a proposal to someone on the Adobe Express team, and he actually encouraged me to build it and offered me funding.

So I did. That tool became Codify.

And that’s when things started moving faster.

Why I Kept Building

Here’s the weird part that I didn’t expect: I wasn’t building these tools to earn some money. I don’t even think I was thinking three steps ahead.

I built them because the work itself was actually addictive.

Watching creators use my tools. Seeing them solve real problems. Knowing that my stuff was saving someone time or making their creative process smoother. That feeling is powerful. It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to keep going, keep improving, keep building the next thing.

Money and recognition are nice, but they’re not why I was staying up late fixing bugs or thinking about features in the shower. I was doing it because I genuinely enjoyed it.

Growing Inside the Ecosystem

Since that first tool, I’ve built quite a few more: Paletify, Rephresely, GlowUp, Design to Code, Carousel AI, and now Clarity.

I also published three videos on the Adobe Developers YouTube Channel to help developers get started with Adobe Express Add-Ons.

I am continuously writing blogs regarding the Express Ecosystem and covering every pain point developers face while building Add-Ons.

I also got a chance to judge and mentor the Adobe Express Add-Ons Hackathon in person at NSUT, Delhi. In this hackathon, many students started with Add-on by watching my videos and reading my blogs, and I also solved the doubts and problems of the students on the go.

And here’s the number that still blows my mind: across all these tools, 10,000+ Adobe Express users are using the tool that I built. It’s amazing, no?

More than ten thousand users.

A year ago, that number was zero. I didn’t know anyone at Adobe. I had no network inside the company. I didn’t even understand how the add-ons ecosystem worked. I just took the first step and figured it out as I went.

What This Year Really Taught Me

Looking back on everything that happened, there are a few things that became crystal clear to me:

Inspiration often comes from things that feel like failure. Losing that hackathon wasn’t the end; it was the beginning of something much bigger.

One message can genuinely redirect your entire path. If Ingo hadn’t sent that message, none of this would have happened.

Small ideas can compound into something significant. I didn’t start with a five-year plan. I built one tool, then another, then another.

Sometimes you just need one door to open. Everyone talks about having a network, but sometimes all you need is one person to believe in what you’re doing.

Consistency matters way more than talent. I wasn’t the most skilled developer when I started. But I kept shipping. I kept improving. That adds up.

It’s okay to not have all the answers. I learned as I went. I didn’t need to understand everything before I started.

But if I’m being honest, the biggest lesson is this: Never underestimate where a single small project can take you. I thought Textify was just a fun hackathon entry. I had no idea it would become the first domino in a chain of events that would change how I work and what I build.

Where I Am Now

I’m still learning. Still building. Still figuring things out as I go. Right now I’m working on tools like Design to Code, exploring new ways to help creators/developers do more with less friction.

And you know what? It feels like I’m just getting started.

Why I’m Telling You All This

I’m sharing this story because I want it to land with someone who needs to hear it right now.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about building something, but you’re afraid it won’t matter. Maybe you got rejected from something, and you’re wondering if it’s a sign to quit. Maybe you have an idea, but it seems too small, too niche, or too risky to actually pursue.

Here’s what I know from living through this: The opportunity that changes your life often doesn’t look like an opportunity at first.

It might look like losing a hackathon. A random DM from someone you don’t know. An idea that pops into your head that you almost ignore. A tool you almost decided not to build because you weren’t sure if it mattered.

But if you follow it anyway, if you say yes to the uncertain thing, your whole direction might shift.

Just like mine did.

The best part? I didn’t have to have it all figured out before I started. I just had to show up and do the work.

You can too.

Hope you liked this story!!

See ya in the next one :)

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