From right to left languages to AI-powered design, Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht says true localisation and human judgment will define creativity, communication, and productivity in the digital age.
As organisations across the Middle East increasingly rely on visual communication, Obrecht believes Canva’s future growth in the region hinges on something deceptively simple: being genuinely local.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of Web Summit Qatar Monday, he highlighted how language, culture, and collaboration styles play a central role in designing and evolving the platform — especially in cities like Doha, where international teams work side by side.
“Being truly local in a market is absolutely everything,” Obrecht said. “We want Canva to feel like an experience built for people in Doha and this region, not just a global product that’s been lightly tailored.”
He explained that while Canva launched in English before expanding into 20 languages, entering Arabic-speaking markets posed both technological and creative challenges.
“Arabic is hard to write right-to-left, and it’s also difficult to represent properly as fonts because of the artistic depth in Arabic typography,” he said. “We really need to respect that.”
Beyond language, Obrecht stressed that people, not platforms, drive trust and long-term adoption. “Business is a game of humans at the end of the day,” he said, highlighting the importance of partnerships with governments, educational institutions, and local content creators to reach students, non-profits, and entrepreneurs.
As visual communication becomes central to education, entrepreneurship, and work, Obrecht noted that many underestimate how deeply visual expression is rooted in human history.
“From the dawn of civilisation, humans have painted ideas on cave walls,” he said. “Arabic cultures, in particular, have expressed ideas visually for hundreds, even thousands, of years.”
This, he added, explains why video-first platforms thrive and why tools that enable visual storytelling resonate globally. “Visual communication is a means to an end,” he said. “People don’t wake up wanting to make a presentation — they want to raise money, grow a business, or share an idea.”
Artificial intelligence is accelerating that process. Obrecht revealed that Canva’s AI tools have already been used more than 22bn times, with adoption in the Middle East — especially Doha — running at double the rate seen in the US.
“We’re evolving from a design platform with AI tools to an AI platform with design tools,” he said. “AI helps people create better, faster, and with far greater depth — but always in service of their goals.”
Despite rapid automation, Obrecht emphasised that creativity must remain human-led. “Creativity isn’t tethered to a tool,” he said. “The tools change — from cave walls to paintbrushes to Canva — but creativity is innate.”
In a world flooded with content, he believes human judgment and taste will matter more than ever. “AI will proliferate content,” he said. “That makes curation, taste, and judgment critical, because only the best ideas will cut through.”
