There is a new wave of communications taking place. This wave blurs the lines between productivity, creativity, and collaboration, which we have seen before. UC Today expanded its coverage area into project management tools a few years ago (or Collaborative Work Management, according to Gartner) because more effective collaboration was occurring inside these types of tools. Now, we are seeing this shift elsewhere as creative tools collide with AI and communications.
One of the companies at the heart of this shift is Canva, a platform once known primarily for its easy-to-use graphic design tools. But after the recent Canva Create 2025 event, one key topic emerged. Canva isn’t just for designers anymore. In fact, with its advanced AI functionality, one could argue it’s not even for designers anymore. It’s a workplace platform—and it wants to be your next collaboration hub.
This trend isn’t unique to Canva. Adobe, Google, and Microsoft are also pushing their productivity and creative tools deeper into communication workflows. But Canva’s approach may be the most illustrative of the broader transformation happening across the workplace.
Let’s unpack what was revealed at Canva Create and why communication is becoming an essential feature of design and creative platforms.
What Went Down at Canva Create 2025
Held just last week, Canva Create was described as the company’s “biggest ever” event (only its second), showcasing a mix of AI innovation and an expanding enterprise vision. The company introduced Visual Suite 2.0, an update designed to position Canva not just as a design tool but as an end-to-end business content engine.
Key announcements included:
- Canva Sheets – Their take on a lightweight data platform built for visual-first teams.
- MagicCharts – An AI-powered visual storytelling tool that intelligently picks the right chart for your data and enhances it for presentations.
- Canva Code – A “vibe coding” feature that allows users to build apps, widgets, or websites using natural language prompts.
- Deeper Ecosystem Integrations – With Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Workspace, Salesforce, and more—along with APIs and SDKs for custom communication workflows.
According to analyst Melody Brue from Moor Insights and Strategy, the focus on real-time collaboration, asset centralization, and app integrations signals Canva’s intention to go beyond design teams and embed itself directly into the Unified Communications stack.
Why Communication is Coming to Creative Tools
At first glance, design platforms like Canva or Adobe might not seem obvious contenders for UC capabilities. But that perception is rapidly changing.
People Want to Stay in One Platform
As Brue explained during the UC Today Big News Show (due to air next week), workers who live inside Teams or Slack all day don’t want to jump between 10 different tools to get a campaign out the door. Canva understands this, and by embedding its tools directly into UC platforms, it reduces friction and boosts productivity.
Cross-Functional Teams Need Synchronous Workflows
Designers, marketers, data analysts, and operations folks all need to collaborate in real-time, especially with the rise of hybrid work. Canva’s integration with collaboration apps ensures teams can give feedback, manage assets, and publish without leaving their chat or meeting platform.
AI Democratizes Creativity
Canva and Adobe are investing heavily in AI tools that make creative work accessible to non-designers. With MagicCharts, for instance, data-shy professionals can turn survey results into slick visuals without needing a background in visualization. That kind of empowerment demands real-time communication baked into the flow.
The Race to The AI-Enabled Workspace
As Zeus Kerravala, Founder of ZK Research, noted in the discussion, platforms like Microsoft Teams, Adobe, and even Google converge on a similar battleground (productivity plus collaboration). Each is evolving through its lens, whether it’s document-first (Microsoft), design-first (Adobe, Canva), or comms-first (Zoom, Teams). But they’re all racing toward a unified, AI-enhanced workspace.
While Canva is making big strides, it’s not quite ready to dethrone Adobe or Microsoft in the enterprise space… yet. As Brue noted, Canva still needs to prove it can scale which means focusing on a few key areas that will make it easier to adopt. These include enterprise-grade governance, more flexible licensing for IT teams, and user management tools that could push it out of small teams and into core business units.
Still, the integration story is strong, and as UC platforms become more modular, Canva is well-positioned to be the creative layer on top.
Can We Take Cavna Seriously?
With a $40B valuation, a refusal to sell, and hires like former Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg, Canva has its eyes on the enterprise. This is a company that is just getting started, has a clear vision, and isn’t entertaining ideas that could distract it from its core mission. If it can keep pushing boundaries on collaboration, communication, and usability, it could be the next creative disruptor that reshapes not just how we design but also how we work.
A New Collaborative Stack
Canva’s evolution reflects a deeper market trend. The unification of content, communication, and collaboration into a single pane of glass. This aligns with Adobe’s push to add more real-time collaboration tools, Microsoft’s Copilot-embedded Office suite, and Google’s infusion of Gemini across its apps.
In the not-so-distant future, we’ll likely see a world where your creative brief, campaign launch call, and analytics dashboard all live inside the same platform—with AI and agents helping you navigate between them.
As Kerravala said, “The one thing users don’t want is 85 different tools with 85 different AI agents.” The platforms that win will be those that can consolidate value and communication seamlessly.
Have thoughts to add? Join the conversation on LinkedIn or Reddit—we’d love to hear your perspective.
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