Marketing

Canva Amplifies AI-Powered Marketing Automation with Simtheory and Ortto Acquisitions

April 22, 2026 · From the archive, written in the Professor's voice before our October 2026 redesign from techcrunch.com

What happened

Canva has strategically acquired Simtheory and Ortto to enhance its AI and marketing automation capabilities. Simtheory's platform allows teams to build AI assistants that understand complex business contexts and operate seamlessly across multiple tools, enabling customized agentic workflows. Ortto complements this by integrating bespoke customer data platforms with marketing automation, facilitating more precise audience targeting and campaign execution.

Why it matters

This move underscores the importance of AI-driven agentic workflows that adapt to specific business needs, rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. Marketers should reconsider their automation strategies to incorporate AI assistants capable of multi-tool coordination and dynamic task handling, which increases operational efficiency and campaign relevance.

Who's doing it

Canva, the graphic design powerhouse, has integrated Simtheory and Ortto’s technologies, aiming to streamline marketing processes and boost user engagement through sophisticated AI assistants, thus improving campaign ROI and customer personalization.

Try it

1. Visit Ortto’s website at https://ortto.com and sign up for their marketing automation platform.
2. Use Ortto’s customer data platform to segment your audience based on behavior and demographics.
3. Employ Simtheory’s AI assistant tools (available through Canva’s integrated platform) to create workflows that automate personalized marketing tasks across your preferred tools, expecting improved campaign targeting and execution efficiency.

Read the original at techcrunch.com