Canva's AI-Powered Design Tools Reshape India's Digital Landscape

The One Canva Feature That India Can't Live Without

Canva is planning to launch a Hindi website in the next few months. Cameron Adams, co-founder of Canva, recently visited India for the first time. In between dealing with lost baggage, losing himself in the vibrant Indian culture, and meeting Canva's talented team in Delhi, Adams uncovered a surprising design trend: India's obsession with background removal. While Canva offers a vast suite of AI-powered design tools, templates, and branding solutions, one feature stood out in India more than any other: the ability to erase backgrounds. From small business owners polishing their e-commerce product images to social media creators crafting seamless visuals, background removal has become an essential tool across industries. Adams was fascinated by how deeply embedded design has become in India's digital ecosystem. The country's booming creator economy, rapid e-commerce expansion, and increasing demand for high-quality visuals have made background removal more than just a tool -- it's a necessity. The trend is now shaping the way Canva adapts to one of its fastest-growing markets. As the company continues to evolve, Adams sees India as a creative powerhouse that is redefining digital design at scale. The fact that India has quickly become Canva's fourth-largest market is a testament to its explosive growth. "India is now our fourth biggest market, and it continues to grow amazingly, which is why it's so great to have a team here that really helps foster growth," Adams revealed, alongside discussing the importance of localisation, highlighting the team's efforts in providing relevant content, features, and language support. Canva is planning to launch a Hindi website in the next few months. The introduction of a Hindi-language website will allow millions of users to design and communicate with ease in their native tongue, promoting inclusivity and broader access to visual storytelling in India. "It's really important for us to bring a truly local product here. The team does an amazing job making sure we have the right content, the right product features, and the right languages that we're speaking to people." Adams also pointed to the unique usage patterns in India, noting the popularity of the photo background removal tool and the significant use of Canva for creating resumes and presentations. He expressed excitement about the thriving educator community in India, driven by the Canva for Education program. The co-founder sees immense potential for Canva in India, even suggesting it could become the number one market. "I think, given the current growth trajectory, being number one is just a question of time. India is a huge market." He cited the entrepreneurial spirit and diverse skill set in India as key drivers of this growth. Canva has been investing in AI for over seven years, long before the recent surge in AI design startups. Adams explained how AI is now woven into every aspect of the Canva experience. "AI is now integrated at every touch point that you have within Canva, from the home page where you might be suggested different designs...through to every step in designing, whether that's removing a background or getting suggestions on copy." He proudly shared that Canva users have engaged with AI features over 13 billion times, demonstrating the value and adoption of these tools. Addressing concerns about AI-generated designs lacking originality, Adams emphasised the importance of balancing AI with human creativity. "We very much view it [AI] as a tool. It's not the be-all and end-all...We still rely heavily on the rest of the Canva products to produce amazing designs." He highlighted Canva's vast library of elements, creator-led content, and templates as crucial components that complement AI capabilities. Canva's AI strategy involves a three-pronged approach: developing in-house models, partnering with leading AI companies like OpenAI and RunwayML, and empowering the developer ecosystem through the Canva App Store. "Those are the three pillars we think of when we think about our AI strategy, and together, they enable us to bring the best product with the best AI, creating the best experience for our customers," he said. Adams sees a future where humans and AI work together seamlessly to achieve the best outcomes. He discussed the potential of AI design agents but emphasised the importance of human agency. "We strongly believe that humans and technology together produce the best outcomes, not just technology alone...that real collaboration between people and technology is what we're aiming to create in our product." While acknowledging the potential for automation, Adams cautioned against a purely technology-driven approach. "I think it's somewhat simplistic to think of AI as this one-click button that can produce things for you. It needs to change the way we think about problem-solving and delivering solutions and the way we work together as teams."

Uptake of technology, scale of population, and local innovation make India an exciting market: Cameron Adams

Adams, who is on his first visit to India, recently told ET that he expects the country to become Canva's largest market in three to five years. The Sydney-headquartered company has more than 200 million users worldwide.Making a product that feels "authentically local" across various parts of the world is key to scaling a startup globally, and Canva is investing in tailoring its platform for the Indian market, its fourth largest, said Cameron Adams, cofounder and chief product officer of the online graphic design platform. "We have put a tremendous amount of effort into making the Canva product truly local, a product that people here in Delhi, in Bengaluru, in Jakarta, in Barcelona, can use and feel like it's a native product, like it was made for them, that has the content they need, that's in the language they speak, and feels authentically local," Adams said at the ET Now Global Business Summit on Saturday. Adams, who is on his first visit to India, recently told ET that he expects the country to become Canva's largest market in three to five years. The Sydney-headquartered company has more than 200 million users worldwide. Also Read: Australian design software firm Canva sees India becoming its top market in three to five years Noting India's rapid growth from being Canva's fifth-largest market to the fourth largest in just a few months, Adams said India's uptake of technology, the scale and size of its population and local innovation make it an exciting market. "In tackling that, we realise that we need a product that is truly local, that speaks to all Indians, speaks all the multiple different languages that you have across the country, and speaks to the uses that you have for it," Adams said. "Not just 'good morning' templates, but all the cultural events that you have, the types of business that you run, whether that's on WhatsApp or other platforms, and the team that we have here in India supremely focuses on that." Canva's India team is working to engineer the product for the way Indians use it. For instance, by offering one- and seven-day subscriptions. According to Adams, the company will also launch a Hindi website to provide "end-to-end experience that thinks about the context and culture of the user", including the needs of the business and particular uses, the channels the content will be shared on, specific to India. Adams said artificial intelligence (AI) can open new possibilities and be a "partner" in the world of design, making it accessible to more people. "We're starting to see AI being this almost humanistic interface that you can partner with, that you can throw ideas around with, that you can go back and forth with to iterate on things and produce better ideas," he said. The technology, which has been integrated across Canva, is empowering people to create designs for different areas of their lives, do so faster and with higher quality, and work with teams better, said Adams. "We're seeing professional designers and non-designers using artificial intelligence to make better ideas, to explore totally crazy and creative ideas and bring them to their team and have a much better conversation about what they ultimately want to ship," he said.