AI boosts Indian business efficiency, Canva report finds

Indian businesses are increasingly embracing AI for content creation and visual communication.

Indian businesses are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their operations, according to Canva’s Annual Visual Economy Report. The report highlights that 90% of surveyed Indian businesses are starting to use AI for creating content and visual communication.

Globally, out of 3,707 businesses surveyed, 73% reported improved performance due to visual communication tools, and 70% plan to invest more in these tools. In India, 41% of business leaders face challenges with team collaboration and complex workflows, driving the need for such investments.

The rise of visual communication tools means that 97% of businesses now expect non-design employees to have some design skills. Canva’s report suggests that 85% of business leaders see resistance to AI and tech tools as a barrier to creativity.

However, concerns persist. Business leaders are worried about plagiarism (80%), AI bias (84%), and job loss (81%). Although AI models are improving, they can still make mistakes. Canva is working with tech companies to address these issues, particularly in identifying AI-generated content.

Last month, at Canva’s first global Create summit, the company introduced new tools for enterprise teams, workflows, and enhanced security. “Canva’s growth has been driven by word of mouth. We aim to support various teams within organizations to use Canva comfortably, enhancing our existing growth strategy,” said Adams at the summit.

Canva now boasts over 180 million monthly active users, including 20 million paying subscribers, generating $2.3 billion annually. Recent updates include Magic Design, which promises higher quality presentations, AI Highlights for video editing, and Enhance Voice to reduce background noise. The new Affinity v2.5 offers advanced editing options, including Variable Font support and a Stroke Width Tool for on-document editing.

Canva’s commitment to improving AI tools and addressing concerns shows its dedication to supporting businesses in this digital transformation era.