Marketing

Canva Expands AI Marketing Automation Through Strategic Acquisitions of Simtheory and Ortto

April 16, 2026 · From the archive, written in the Professor's voice before our October 2026 redesign from techcrunch.com

What happened

Canva recently acquired Simtheory and Ortto to bolster its AI and marketing automation capabilities. Simtheory’s platform enables teams to build AI assistants that understand complex business contexts and integrate workflows across multiple tools using advanced models. Ortto specializes in combining custom automation with user data to streamline marketing processes, enhancing personalized customer engagement.

Why it matters

This illustrates the growing importance of AI-driven agentic workflows and integrated automation in marketing. Marketers should adopt AI assistants that not only automate tasks but also contextualize business needs across platforms, thereby increasing efficiency and personalization in campaigns.

Who's doing it

Canva itself is pioneering this approach, leveraging Simtheory and Ortto’s technologies to offer customers smarter, AI-powered marketing automation with measurable improvements in campaign responsiveness and customer retention.

Try it

1. Explore Simtheory’s platform at https://simtheory.com to understand building AI assistants customized to your business.
2. Use Ortto’s marketing automation tools at https://ortto.com to integrate customer data with campaign workflows.
3. Combine these tools within your marketing stack to set up AI-driven, agentic workflows that automate and personalize customer interactions for better outcomes.

Read the original at techcrunch.com