Check out KACE. They have an asset management tool that does discovery on hardware /software in your environment. It's a quality platform I've used before. https://www.quest.com/kace/
Who owns the laptop? What software is running on it?
Aside from the phone-home thing that Adobe software likes to do, if the laptop is a company-owned device (say from their employer), it might have software on it (such as KACE) which keeps track of the device's configuration and what software is installed. It's usually done to keep inventory and to make sure software is up to date, along with making sure the business is in compliance with any software licensing. So in such a case, pirating Adobe software would probably raise a red flag if anyone is paying attention.
If it's a personally-owned device, then it's unlikely your "friend" has this type of software running.