As AI layoffs ravage tech, Cliff Obrecht explains what it takes to survive at Canva — Capital Brief
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At Blackbird’s Sunrise event the Canva COO said growth in headcount would slow to 5% from 50% in earlier years as he unveiled a new AI competency framework for staff.
Rick Baker and Cliff Obrecht on stage at Sunrise.
Simon Thomsen.
Canva is Australia’s most successful startup. By Andreessen Horowitz’s latest count, it is also the third most-visited generative AI product on the web, behind only ChatGPT and Gemini.
At Blackbird’s Sunrise summit this week, co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht laid out what it is taking to stay competitive.
Engineers inside Canva are now graded against a seven-level AI competency framework, Obrecht told Blackbird partner Rick Baker in front of a packed room on stage at Sunrise, running from basic code completion at level one to “running a team of agents autonomously 24/7” at the top.
The expectations attached to each specialty are being “ratcheted up” as the company progresses.
Topics:
Canva,
Artificial intelligence
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