Aqua by Adobe gives kids a safe, free space to color, create, and explore—without ads, addictive mechanics, or overstimulation. Bringing that experience to families around the world takes thoughtful coordination across many teams and markets.
Amy Butler, a program manager with Adobe Incubator Operations, helps make it happen.
Returning to Adobe to build something new
Amy returned to Adobe after a seven-year break, bringing with her an unusual mix of experience. Before stepping away, she spent more than 16 years working on the Adobe.com team. During her time away, she started and ran her own screen printing business.
Now she helps Adobe’s venture teams navigate the journey from an emerging idea to a launched product.
“It’s been incredibly rewarding to come back and help build something new with this team,” Amy says.
Her path reflects the advice she gives to anyone interested in doing similar work: stay curious and try different things. Experiences that might seem unrelated at first—from running a business to collaborating with new kinds of teams—often develop the most valuable skills.
Her advice? “You don’t have to have it all figured out. The more experiences you collect, the better.”
Orchestrating a successful launch
Amy describes her role as "less like juggling and more like orchestration." Her focus changes depending on which venture is approaching an important milestone, but the foundation of her work remains the same: build strong relationships, identify risks early, connect the right people, and turn unanswered questions into clear decisions.
That means working across product, legal, privacy, marketing, localization, and regional teams. The goal is to balance momentum with thoughtful risk management so products can launch smoothly and without unexpected complications.
Much of that effort is invisible to the people who ultimately use the product.
“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into making a launch feel simple,” Amy explains.
International launches introduce additional complexity. An approach that works well in one country may need to be reconsidered for another because of differences in language, culture, regulations, privacy requirements, or local expectations.
Amy’s role is to bring those moving pieces together early, helping teams address potential challenges before they become roadblocks. She is, in effect, making all the magic happen and no one even knows outside of the company.
Bringing thoughtful creativity to more families
For Amy, Aqua is special because of the kind of experience it offers children. She says that “Aqua feels truly different. It’s a safe, creative space for kids that isn’t built around addictive mechanics or overstimulation. And it’s completely free, without ads.”
That mission resonates with her both as a parent and as someone who has always loved making things. From childhood creative projects to building her screen printing business, experimentation has remained an important part of Amy’s life.
Aqua captures that same pleasure: the freedom to try something, follow an idea, and discover what happens next.
“I love that I can help bring a product into the world that gives kids space to color and create, without pressure or noise,” she says.
As Aqua reaches more parts of the world, Amy is excited to see Adobe extend that intentional experience to even more children and families.
Imagining what comes next
If Amy could add anything to Aqua, she already knows what she would choose: Disco Island.
Her vision includes “baby’s first DJ” controls that would let kids mix beats, experiment with sound, and create music of their own.
It is a fitting idea for a product—and a career—centered on curiosity, creativity, and the joy of seeing what happens when different elements come together.