Canva has released its second annual Visual Economy Report, featuring insights from over 3,700 global business leaders on the impact of visual communication. The company worked with Morning Consult to understand how business leaders are using visual communication tools and the role AI plays in enhancing productivity, creativity, and workflow efficiency. The survey spanned 12 markets, including India, the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
In India, nearly three-quarters of business leaders reported that visual communication tools have boosted business performance, aiding in content creation, team collaboration, and audience engagement. This increase in effectiveness has led 70% of Indian business leaders to invest more in visual communication tools than in the previous year.
With the current economic pressures, 89% of Indian leaders are turning to AI-powered tools to meet the growing demands for content production. A significant 92% of these leaders noted an improvement in the quality of visual content due to AI, though concerns about plagiarism, bias, and job displacement remain prevalent.
Design skills are now considered essential across various roles in the workplace. In India, 97% of leaders expect employees in non-design roles to have some level of design competency, prompting more than two-thirds to provide relevant training to their staff.
Collaboration and efficient workflow are crucial for scaling content creation. Over one-third of Indian leaders identified a lack of cross-team collaboration as a major challenge, with 38% pointing to complex workflows as another hurdle. As a result, business leaders prioritise visual communication platforms that offer real-time collaboration, streamlined workflows, and comprehensive functionality.
Resistance to new technology among senior stakeholders is seen as a barrier to creativity by 85% of Indian business leaders. Additionally, 82% attribute a lack of imaginative thinking and innovative outputs to siloed teams and poor cross-functional collaboration.
The findings underline the growing importance of visual communication in both internal and external business operations. The need for easy-to-use, interoperable visual communication tools is increasing as organisations aim to improve their communication effectiveness. The integration of AI in visual communication is providing professionals with the ability to create high-impact content more efficiently and at a larger scale.
The Visual Economy Report is based on a survey of 3,707 business leaders in marketing, sales, human resources, and operations who have insights into company revenue goals and influence over audience engagement strategies. In India, the survey included 257 business leaders (Director+, VP+, C-Suite+), providing a detailed look at the current state of visual communication and its future trajectory in the market.