Director of Canva Vietnam: Design is gradually becoming a necessary skill

The Canva design platform currently has more than 260 million monthly active users globally, with more than 30 billion designs created in 190 countries. In Vietnam, the toolkit also attracted millions of users before its official presence in April.

On the occasion of cooperation with the National Innovation Center (NIC) on August 25 in Hanoi, Mr. Lam Trung Quan, Country Director of Canva Vietnam, shared with VnExpress about changes in the digital creative market, the impact of AI on content creators and the demands placed on education in the new era.

– Why did Canva decide to officially present in the Vietnamese market now?

– Vietnamese users have been using Canva for a long time. That is the clearest signal that the market is ready for a more serious investment, instead of just stopping at a product that is spontaneously accessed and used.

Vietnam is one of the fastest growing creative economies in the region, with a huge amount of designs created each month. Before our official presence, we spent months analyzing user behavior, working with partners and local authorities, including a cooperation agreement with Ho Chi Minh City by the end of 2025. We also talked directly with the community of creators, teachers and small businesses to understand real needs.

What is observed shows that the need for creative tools in Vietnam lies not only in creating beautiful designs, but also in the ability to create content quickly, suitable for the local context and directly serving the work. This is an important change, because digital creativity is gradually becoming a skill that serves the daily work of many user groups, instead of a separate field of expertise.

– So how are Vietnamese users different, and what do those differences say about the market?

– The most notable point is that Vietnamese users not only consume content but also create a lot of content. This is a market with a young user community, using mobile devices a lot and creating a lot of content for social networks as well as small business activities.

That context makes the need for creativity no longer only come from professional designers, but also a huge force of people who do not consider themselves designers but still create content every day. They can be small store owners who need promotional images, teachers preparing teaching materials, or an individual building a brand on social networks.

Another point is cultural and linguistic factors. Users want tools and resources that reflect the way they communicate, the holidays, culture, and business context in Vietnam. Meaning, when global platforms develop in Vietnam, translating into Vietnamese is not enough. They must understand how Vietnamese people use products and what types of content are really needed.

For example, we added more than 500 Vietnamese fonts along with designs and materials related to local culture, festivals and business contexts. But more broadly than the product story, I think this is a sign that Vietnam’s digital creative market is maturing. Users are no longer just looking for an off-the-shelf tool but are starting to expect it to be relevant to their needs and culture.

– When anyone can create a design, a video or a relatively complete content thanks to AI, what role will the skills of the creator play?

– AI is helping to significantly lower the barriers to entry into the creative field. A person who previously had no design skills can now make a relatively professional product in a short time.

But I don’t think that means creative skills are no longer necessary. As things get easier, the ability to determine what you want to do, why, and evaluate whether the product is suitable or not becomes even more important. AI can help a person execute an idea faster, but ideas, context, identity, and evaluation still require humans.

This is also driving a change in the way we view design skills. In the past, part of the value was in the ability to use the software. In the future, value may shift more to the ability to think, build ideas, tell stories and make creative decisions. This is both an opportunity and a challenge.

The opportunity is that more people can participate in the creative economy. The challenge is that the pace of technological change requires continued R&D investment, more competition in the industry, and we must ensure AI supports, not replaces, creative human thinking. This will help them maintain trust and identity in each product.

– From that perspective, how does education need to change when AI has become part of the process?

– Education is one of Canva’s three strategic pillars in Vietnam, besides economics and culture.

I think the goal shouldn’t just be to teach students to use a specific AI tool. It is important to help children understand how to exploit technology in thinking, creativity and problem solving. The same goes for teachers. Tools help prepare lessons or create documents faster, but teachers are still the ones who decide what content is suitable for students, how to organize the classroom and the goals of the lesson.

That’s why we’re interested in measuring not just how many teachers or students sign up to use the tool, but also how much technology actually changes teaching and learning. If there are hundreds of thousands of additional accounts but the teaching method does not change, that is not the result we are aiming for.

I think education will be one of the places where the change brought about by AI is most evident. If you want technology to enter the classroom, it must start with the classroom teacher. A well-equipped teacher not only uses AI for work but also helps generations of students form ways of working with technology.

Canva plans to train about 30,000 teachers in Vietnam with its partners. The content lasts eight hours, from interactive lesson design to using AI in teaching. Besides helping teachers “know how to use Canva”, the program aims to bring those skills into classrooms and actual lessons.

– After a period of research to officially operate in Vietnam, what do you realize is that the domestic digital creative market is lacking to develop faster?

– Vietnam has a very dynamic user community and great demand for creativity. The next thing is to continue investing in digital skills, especially the ability to use new tools responsibly and effectively. We also need more opportunities for small businesses, teachers, students and innovators to access technology without being limited by cost or skills shortages.

Another factor is that the content and tools must be relevant to the local market. With global platforms, presence in Vietnam should not be understood as providing an existing product, but rather as a process of learning from users and building the same domestic ecosystem.

Vietnam may also have a greater position in Southeast Asia’s digital innovation picture. The region has a young population and rapid digitalization, playing an increasingly important role in Canva’s global strategy. What we’re interested in is not just the size of the user base, but also how to build deeper relationships with government, education and local creative communities.

Vietnam is an important test for this approach. If the model proves effective, we can replicate our experience in similar markets in the region.