Canva's AI push: one percent of the way there

Canva, the design tool built for regular people (not just designers), is still figuring out where AI takes them. The company's been building out AI features — image generation, text-to-design, smart editing — and the verdict from their own assessment is that they've barely scratched the surface of what this could become.

That's actually the right way to think about it. The tools that let anyone make a poster, a flyer, a social post, or a pitch deck are still in the early innings. Canva's core users — small business owners, teachers, community organizers, abuelas running a home-based food business — aren't asking for a full Adobe. They're asking for something that works on their phone, doesn't cost a fortune, and doesn't require a tutorial. The AI layer is still figuring out how to serve that.

Why this matters for us: Canva is already how a lot of Brown and Black small businesses make their marketing materials — when AI tools actually work for the people who need them most, it could be a real equalizer.