Canva's CEO on its big pivot to AI enterprise software

In this episode of Decoder, Nilay Patel sits down with Melanie Perkins, CEO and founder of Canva, to discuss the company's bold pivot from a design platform to an AI-powered enterprise workflow system. Perkins reveals that Canva is evolving from a tool for creating designs into a full end-to-end AI platform that can generate, orchestrate, and refine documents, presentations, and marketing assets by pulling data from Slack, email, and other enterprise systems. The centerpiece of this transformation is Canva AI 2.0, which enables users to describe an idea in natural language and have the AI generate a fully editable Canva file—complete with layered design elements—ready for collaboration and refinement. Perkins emphasizes that the output remains in standard Canva format, preserving the ability to edit, iterate, and customize, which she calls a critical differentiator from one-shot AI generation. The discussion delves into the technical architecture behind this shift, including Canva’s decade-long investment in a unified, interoperable design format that allows AI to seamlessly orchestrate hundreds of tools. Perkins also addresses competitive dynamics, particularly with Adobe, while defending Canva’s mission to empower non-designers and reduce busy work. Despite widespread public skepticism about AI, Perkins remains optimistic, framing AI as a tool that amplifies human creativity rather than replaces it. She underscores Canva’s commitment to keeping Affinity free and highlights the company’s internal culture of goal-driven collaboration and continuous upskilling in the AI era. The episode closes with a look at the future of enterprise AI, where platforms like Canva aim to become the central nervous system of work—connecting fragmented data and automating workflows without sacrificing user control or design integrity.