How India's WhatsApp 'Good Morning' Culture Is Fueling Canva's AI-Powered Growth Strategy

Canva's executive team reveals how India has become central to their worldwide expansion strategy.

The Australian design platform Canva is leveraging India's distinctive digital behaviors, particularly the widespread "Good Morning" WhatsApp messaging culture, to propel its ambitious growth plans, according to Forbes India. With India now ranking as Canva's fourth-largest market globally, the company is expanding its offerings beyond graphic design into AI-enhanced tools for email communication, video editing, website creation, and additional services.

Demonstrating its commitment to the Indian market, Canva placed a substantial bid of Rs 544.48 crore to sponsor the Indian cricket team's jerseys, highlighting the strategic importance of India to its global expansion initiatives.

"India currently stands as the fourth-largest market for Canva. There's no reason why it shouldn't become the largest," stated Chandrika Deb, Canva's country manager for India, in conversation with Forbes India. "We are exploring various opportunities to build stronger connections with our community and will continue making significant investments in India, with the objective of reaching every Internet user in the country."

Rob Kawalsky, Global Head of Product, explained that Canva aims to enhance everyone's creativity by evolving beyond graphic design into a comprehensive suite of interoperable tools. The company's vision places Canva at the convergence of creativity and productivity, enabling users to work fluidly across different formats and workflows.

Chandrika Deb emphasized how India's unique content consumption patterns, especially the daily deluge of 'good morning' messages, have profoundly shaped Canva's localization efforts. With over 2.5 million designs created daily in India, Canva has adapted its platform to accommodate mobile-first users and culturally specific content needs.

Deb observed that the popularity of 'good morning' greetings, festival wishes, and culturally significant celebrations like annaprashan or grihapravesh drives enormous design activity. Canva now supports 13 Indian languages and continues to invest in understanding regional content requirements, recognizing that even simple morning greetings represent important creative moments for millions of users.

Canva's growth in the Indian market is increasingly driven by professionals, educators, small businesses, and content creators. The platform experiences high adoption rates for Canva Code and AI features, with India leading global usage statistics.

Small businesses extensively utilize Canva for branding purposes, while educators leverage the platform for interactive teaching—underscoring India's influential role in shaping Canva's future across various sectors and communities.

Rob Kawalsky stressed that AI technology will complement rather than replace professional designers. AI enhances creativity by facilitating faster iteration and broader exploration. While beginners now have easier access to design tools, professionals can scale their work more efficiently. AI serves as a tool to amplify design potential, not substitute human creativity.

Kawalsky further highlighted Canva's ethical approach to AI development, noting its opt-in model for training using compensated creator content. He also referenced Canva Shield, a comprehensive suite of safety and privacy tools, reaffirming the company's longstanding commitment to balancing innovation in AI with strong responsibility and user protection measures.