Canva COO Cliff Obrecht discusses the design company's product rollouts and how it's been building out its leadership as it prepares to go public in the near future.

Council of the City of Sydney

Canva, the Sydney-based design platform, has reported significant growth with $3.5 billion in annual revenue and 260 million users, maintaining profitability for eight years. The company has expanded its offerings to serve both professional designers and the general public, notably by making the Affinity suite free after acquisition.

Executives indicated that an initial public offering is 'probably imminent' within the next couple of years, with preparations including leadership expansion and talent retention initiatives. Canva has also strengthened its partnership with OpenAI, integrating AI-driven features and launching a layered design model for more efficient content creation and editing.

Canva prepares for 'probably imminent' IPO

Cliff extraordinary level of uptake. We are expecting that. To be honest and thanks for having me first and foremost. We've been absolutely blown away by the level of uptake. It probably really speaks to the creative community screaming out for choice and us delivering on it. But yeah we're absolutely blown away with the pick up so far. Affinity is about professional design in many ways. But how are you seeing being adopted more broadly and who is it that really wants to lean into this type of sophistication. So Canva is a design tool. And when we launched Canva there were only professional design tools. So we launched Canva to enable the 90 to 99 percent of the world who couldn't design to be able to design and express their creativity. And what we did with the acquisition of affinity we acquired that company and we just launched it 100 percent for free. And that really gives creative freedom and the ability to create and design to the other 1 to 10 percent of the organization. So now we have both professional designers and everyone else able to design for free and with ease and not let the tools or cost get in the way of people achieving their goals through visual communication. I'm looking at some analysis that was put out. One analyst is calling it from a virtual visual suite to a comprehensive creative operating system. They say that it launches Canva into beyond the tool for simple graphics and to challenge Adobe's longstanding market dominance. Is that what you're doing. You're challenging Adobe here. I think we really just think about how do we help organizations achieve their visual communication goals. How do we. People don't wake up in the morning wanting to create a social media graphic or wanting to create a presentation. They wake up wanting to achieve a goal whether that's a small business trying to raise money whether that's a large organization trying to win more customers or deploy great marketing content to grow their business and revenue. We're really in the business of helping businesses achieve their goals. And that's quite a complex process in a large organization to create on brand content at scale. And we really have connected all of that complexity through the creative operating system and help businesses deliver on that promise. The promise is being borne out with the statistics and the money that rolls in three and a half billion in terms of annual revenue uses 260 million. You've been profitable for eight years. All of this seems to hint that you're on the path of becoming a public company. Is that right. Yeah it's probably imminent in the next couple of years. That's for sure. Eminent. And what therefore do you need to streamline before that. How much you thinking about your talent. I know you've done a raise where you're able to offer liquidity to those that have been working with you. But how are you able to get the right talent in the door and retain them at this moment. I mean Canada is one of the fastest growing companies in the world right now. And so that helps. It's a great product solving real problems for customers and delivering lots and lots of value. So people are excited to work at a company that really. Helping like that company that is helping their customers achieve their goals and is delivering on that success and is growing fast. And we've had an incredible leadership team over the last while since the start of Canva. And a lot of our leaders have been with us for eight plus years. But we have also brought in a really great C-suite of folks like our CFO Kelly who came from Zoom and a bunch of others to really sort of like pad out that leadership muscle in the lead up to an IPO and beyond. You are really augmented by AI in many ways. But some would say that open AI is a key competitor of yours. How do you see that with Sora. How do you see innovation is as your lifeblood. Open I are absolutely fantastic partner of ours. And you can even start a design within chat GPT now. So if you're creating a presentation outline you can simply say can you can I please have that as a camera design. And it will give you that camera design straight within into chat GPT. And then you can click through to camera for the final mile of editing collaboration deployment and then understanding how that content actually performs in the wild. So we have an absolutely fantastic partnership with open AI and we really build the tools around the models like Sora. So in order to create a video there's a lot more than just prompt a short clip. You need to create character consistency audio. There's so much more. So we really create that end to end workflow that that's enables video creation design creation. And now we're the first company in the world that's launched a layered design model that really generates a camera design that you can edit straight away rather than having to every time you make a change redesign or re recreate that image or piece of content.

U.S. President Donald Trump and New York City's incoming progressive mayor Zohran Mamdani were all smiles at a White House meeting, promising to set aside months of bitter feuding and cooperate on the city's future.

Washington

Trump hosts warm White House meeting with N.Y. mayor-elect Mamdani

Hopes for a strong G20 declaration on climate and debt relief are slim as South Africa hosts the summit from Saturday (November 22). Global tensions and a boycott by the U.S. threaten to overshadow the gathering.

Soweto

G20 leaders seeking agreement in South Africa, despite U.S. boycott

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning from Congress early next year after a weekslong falling out with President Trump and much of her party.

Marjorie Taylor Greene resigning from Congress after Trump fallout

President Trump is pressuring Ukraine to sign off on a new peace proposal with Russia by Thanksgiving. The 28-point plan would have Ukraine surrender about 20% of its territory to the Russians -- an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania.

Trump presses Zelenskyy to accept peace plan, ceding territory to Russia

A powerful earthquake has struck Bangladesh outside the densely populated capital of Dhaka, killing at least five people and injuring about 100, according to the government.

Dhaka

At least five killed as magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits Bangladesh

The COP30 climate conference was hit by divisions on Friday (November 21), over a proposed deal that dropped any mention of fossil fuels, prompting the summit host Brazil to plead with delegates for unity.

Belém

Draft COP30 deal drops mention of fossil fuels

Fátima Bosch Fernández of Mexico has been crowned Miss Universe 2025, securing an electrifying victory at the center of a turbulent pageant in Bangkok.

Bangkok

Miss Mexico crowned Miss Universe 2025

According to UNICEF, more than 400 million children globally live in poverty, missing out on at least two daily needs such as nutrition and sanitation.

UNICEF: More than 400 million children globally live in poverty

The fire in the Blue Zone of the UN climate conference forced evacuations and stalled negotiations as the summit nears its end with many agreements yet to be made.

Fire disrupts climate talks at COP30 in Brazil

Top Democrats condemned President Donald Trump after he accused six lawmakers of "seditious behavior," a crime he said is "punishable by death." The lawmakers posted a video telling military members to disobey illegal orders.

Trump accuses six lawmakers of "seditious behavior"

President Trump approved a 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a senior White House official confirms to CBS News. Ramy Inocencio has the latest.

Ukraine Invasion

Trump approved 28-point plan to end Russia-Ukraine war

There are reports that the U.S. and Russia have drafted a plan that would end the war in Ukraine, but it proposes that Kyiv give up territory and some weapons.

Kyiv

Ukraine expected to give up land, some arms under U.S. peace plan

All 267 people on board a South Korean passenger ferry that ran aground off the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday (November 19) have been rescued, in an incident that revived memories of the major ferry disaster in 2014 in which 300 people died.

Mokpo-si

Ferry runs aground off South Korea, crew negligence suspected

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill that forces the Justice Department to release the files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bill was passed by the U.S. House and Senate on Tuesday.

Trump signs bill to release Epstein files

U.S. officials are now in Kyiv for the Trump administration's renewed push to end the Russia-Ukraine war. CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent and "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan has the details.

U.S. officials in Ukraine to push for renewed peace talks

Harvard University is opening a new inquiry into faculty connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Cam Srivastava, college administration reporter for The Harvard Crimson, joins CBS News with more.

Cambridge

Harvard announces new probe into faculty ties to Jeffrey Epstein

U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized a plan for the CIA in Venezuela, according to a New York Times report. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata has more details.

Trump authorizes plans for CIA covert operation in Venezuela: report

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon killed 13 people and wounded several others, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday. The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants who it said were operating in a training compound there.

Beirut

Middle East Conflict

Israeli strike on Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon kills 13

The Epstein files bill is expected to reach President Donald Trump's desk for his signature on Wednesday (November 19). CBS News' Taurean Small reports.

Trump set to sign bill to release Epstein files

Microsoft and Nvidia plan to invest a combined $15 billion into Anthropic. Bloomberg Intelligence's Mandeep Singh discusses why two of the biggest backers of OpenAI are putting money into its rival.

San Francisco

Microsoft, Nvidia to invest up to $15 billion in Anthropic

Hamas rejects the US-drafted UN resolution for a Gaza ceasefire and international stabilisation force.

New York

UN Security Council vote: Hamas rejects Gaza 'peace resolution'

President Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders announced a boost in Saudi Arabia's planned investment in the U.S., from $600 billion to nearly $1 trillion.

Trump, MBS announce boost in Saudi investment to U.S.

President Donald Trump hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday, with the Saudi de facto ruler seeking to further rehabilitate his global image after the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi and deepen ties with Washington.

Trump hosts Saudi crown prince for pomp-filled, deal-making visit

The Senate, through the process of unanimous consent, agreed to send the bill to President Trump's desk for his signature without any amendments once it's received from the House.

Senate to send Epstein files bill to Trump's desk for signature

The House has approved a bill that would require the Justice Department to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bill, which received bipartisan support, now awaits consideration in the Senate.

House passes bill that would force release of Jeffrey Epstein files

Hopes for a strong G20 declaration on climate and debt relief are slim as South Africa readies to host the summit from Saturday (November 22). Global tensions and a boycott by the United States threaten to overshadow the gathering.

Johannesburg

South Africa readies for G20 despite U.S. boycott

At least one person is dead and three others were injured after an attack in the West Bank, Israeli forces said. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council backed the U.S. plan for Gaza. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio has the latest.

Jerusalem

Tensions escalate as U.N. Security Council backs Trump's plan for Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, his first visit since Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in 2018. The crown prince has denied any involvement.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting White House

The sale of the fighter jets is one of several major deals between the two countries expected to be announced during the visit.

Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

The U.K. government has proposed a major overhaul of its asylum rules, making it easier to deport people and quadruple the amount of time it takes to become a permanent resident.

Breakdown