Canva Requires Engineers to Use AI in Interviews — Here’s What’s New
Canva, the design platform known for integrating AI features into its tools, now expects job candidates to use AI during interviews. This move is part of the company’s broader «AI Everywhere» strategy.
«Candidates for roles in Backend, Machine Learning, and Frontend Engineering must now use AI tools — such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude — during technical interviews,» the company announced.
Why the shift?
According to Canva, nearly half of its front and backend engineers use AI daily for prototyping, code navigation, and generating initial solutions. So, the company decided that if AI is part of the job, it should also be part of the hiring process.
Previously, candidates were asked to solve algorithmic challenges manually without AI assistance. That’s changed.
«We want to see how candidates interact with AI, collaborate with it, and make decisions,» Canva explained. «This gives a much more accurate signal of how they will work in reality.»
Traditional coding questions — often solvable in seconds by AI — no longer reflect a candidate’s real-world problem-solving abilities. The company says the focus has shifted: when AI generates part of the code, the real test is how well a developer can analyze, adapt, and improve that output.
What’s new?
Canva has completely redesigned its technical assessments.
Instead of asking candidates to implement a classic challenge like Conway’s Game of Life, interviewers might pose a more open-ended task like: «Build a system for managing aircraft takeoffs and landings at a high-traffic airport.»
The new format is called AI-Assisted Coding, which is replacing the old Computer Science Fundamentals approach. Candidates are asked to solve practical, real-world problems using AI tools of their choice.
Importantly, candidates are informed in advance that AI will be part of the interview, giving them time to prepare.
During these sessions, interviewers assess:
- Can the candidate use AI effectively?
- Do they understand vague or complex requirements?
- Are they making the right engineering decisions?
- Can they identify and fix bugs in AI-generated code?
- Do their choices align with production-level standards?
According to Canva, top-performing candidates:
- Asked clarifying questions
- Treated AI as a tool, not a «magic button.»
- Improved and debugged code critically
- Took ownership of the final result instead of blindly accepting AI output
«Interestingly, some candidates with little AI experience struggled — not because they couldn’t code, but because they didn’t know how to interact effectively with AI or recognize bad advice,» the company noted.
So far, Canva says the revamped interviews have become more engaging — both for candidates and hiring managers.
Why it matters
Across the tech industry, more companies are embracing AI-first strategies. It’s a natural shift, as AI is already transforming how many professionals work. Increasingly, the job isn’t to create from scratch but to prompt, refine, and improve on AI-generated results.
There are upsides: AI can slash the time spent on routine tasks by 50% — sometimes even 90%. Language models are also getting better: hallucinating less, responding faster, and delivering cleaner outputs.
But there’s a caveat: everything AI generates is ultimately built on the foundation of human creativity. If people stop producing original, unexpected, or even strange ideas, AI will eventually start looping back on itself.
Yes, AI is the future, but what kind of future it will be depends on how people choose to shape it.
Canva Requires Engineers to Use AI in Interviews — Here’s What’s New
Canva, the design platform known for integrating AI features into its tools, now expects job candidates to use AI during interviews. This move is part of the company’s broader «AI Everywhere» strategy.
«Candidates for roles in Backend, Machine Learning, and Frontend Engineering must now use AI tools — such as GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude — during technical interviews,» the company announced.
Why the shift?
According to Canva, nearly half of its front and backend engineers use AI daily for prototyping, code navigation, and generating initial solutions. So, the company decided that if AI is part of the job, it should also be part of the hiring process.
Previously, candidates were asked to solve algorithmic challenges manually without AI assistance. That’s changed.
«We want to see how candidates interact with AI, collaborate with it, and make decisions,» Canva explained. «This gives a much more accurate signal of how they will work in reality.»
Traditional coding questions — often solvable in seconds by AI — no longer reflect a candidate’s real-world problem-solving abilities. The company says the focus has shifted: when AI generates part of the code, the real test is how well a developer can analyze, adapt, and improve that output.
What’s new?
Canva has completely redesigned its technical assessments.
Instead of asking candidates to implement a classic challenge like Conway’s Game of Life, interviewers might pose a more open-ended task like: «Build a system for managing aircraft takeoffs and landings at a high-traffic airport.»
The new format is called AI-Assisted Coding, which is replacing the old Computer Science Fundamentals approach. Candidates are asked to solve practical, real-world problems using AI tools of their choice.
Importantly, candidates are informed in advance that AI will be part of the interview, giving them time to prepare.
During these sessions, interviewers assess:
- Can the candidate use AI effectively?
- Do they understand vague or complex requirements?
- Are they making the right engineering decisions?
- Can they identify and fix bugs in AI-generated code?
- Do their choices align with production-level standards?
According to Canva, top-performing candidates:
- Asked clarifying questions
- Treated AI as a tool, not a «magic button.»
- Improved and debugged code critically
- Took ownership of the final result instead of blindly accepting AI output
«Interestingly, some candidates with little AI experience struggled — not because they couldn’t code, but because they didn’t know how to interact effectively with AI or recognize bad advice,» the company noted.
So far, Canva says the revamped interviews have become more engaging — both for candidates and hiring managers.
Why it matters
Across the tech industry, more companies are embracing AI-first strategies. It’s a natural shift, as AI is already transforming how many professionals work. Increasingly, the job isn’t to create from scratch but to prompt, refine, and improve on AI-generated results.
There are upsides: AI can slash the time spent on routine tasks by 50% — sometimes even 90%. Language models are also getting better: hallucinating less, responding faster, and delivering cleaner outputs.
But there’s a caveat: everything AI generates is ultimately built on the foundation of human creativity. If people stop producing original, unexpected, or even strange ideas, AI will eventually start looping back on itself.
Yes, AI is the future, but what kind of future it will be depends on how people choose to shape it.
