Advocates for 'Column B Thinking', a strategic framework focused on envisioning an ideal future state and working backward to achieve it, rather than making incremental improvements to the present.
Believes in a 'Two-Step Plan' for her company: first, build one of the world's most valuable companies, and second, use the wealth and resources generated to do the most good possible.
Views the next evolution of AI, which she terms 'AI 2.0', as being defined by iterative, agentic orchestration that can perform complex tasks across an entire software suite, moving beyond simple one-shot generation.
Commits to a deeply integrated philanthropic model, having pledged her 30% equity stake in Canva to the Canva Foundation to fund large-scale charitable projects.
Prioritizes long-term platform health over short-term feature velocity, as evidenced by her decision to halt new product shipments for two years to complete a foundational front-end codebase rewrite.
▶Visionary Long-Term StrategyApr 2026
Perkins operates on a philosophy of setting 'crazy big goals' and working backward from an ideal future, a concept she calls 'Column B Thinking'. This is exemplified by Canva's 'two-step plan' (build value, then do good) and the willingness to endure a two-year product rewrite that halted new features in order to achieve long-term scalability.
Investors should note that Perkins' strategic patience and willingness to absorb short-term pain for long-term platform advantage may lead to periods of slower feature releases followed by significant competitive leaps.
▶Aggressive and Comprehensive AI IntegrationApr 2026
Perkins is leading Canva through a complete 'AI-native transformation' that affects every internal process. She defines the next stage of AI as 'AI 2.0'—an 'iterative, agentic orchestration'—and is backing this vision with a 100-person AI research team and partnerships with major AI providers, aiming to embed AI as a collaborative partner across the entire product suite.
Perkins' strategy of not standardizing on a single AI model but giving her team access to all major tools suggests a focus on leveraging the best technology available, which could provide a competitive edge but also introduces integration complexity and potential dependency risks.
▶Philanthropy as a Core Business DriverApr 2026
A core tenet of Perkins' leadership is the integration of philanthropy directly into the company's purpose. She and her co-founder have committed their 30% equity stake to the Canva Foundation, which has made substantial donations, including $50 million to GiveDirectly and a planned $100 million more over four years to alleviate extreme poverty.
This deep integration of social good, including giving away $1.5 billion in product annually, strengthens Canva's brand and mission-driven culture, which can be a significant advantage in talent acquisition and user loyalty, particularly among younger demographics.
▶User-Centric Development at Massive ScaleApr 2026
Perkins has institutionalized responsiveness to user feedback within Canva's product development. The company processes over a million community requests annually, using a system to 'close the loop' on hundreds of features, demonstrating a commitment to its user base even as it scales to 2,500 engineers and over 100 million monthly active users for specific products like presentations.
The ability to maintain a user-responsive feedback loop at this scale is a significant operational moat, reducing churn and ensuring the product evolves in line with the direct needs of its massive and diverse user base.