At a Glance
Seconds, not hours: Incident investigations reduced from hours to seconds with AI-powered search.
Seamless visitor access: Automated visitor check-ins and credential provisioning with Verkada Guest and Access Control.
Smarter, proactive security: Slip-and-fall detection, tailgating alerts, and AI analytics support proactive safety.
Unified global visibility: Remote management of 11 offices across multiple continents within a single Command platform.
Background: Designing Smarter, Safer Global Workspaces
Founded in Sydney in 2013, Canva is a global visual communications platform empowering millions to “design anything and publish anywhere.” Today, the company supports over 260 million monthly active users, with 40 billion designs created in 190 countries and 100+ languages.
At the heart of Canva’s success is a workplace culture that blends creativity and innovation — and with 11 global campuses, the Space Engineering team ensures every environment remains safe, intuitive, and connected.
Challenge: Integrating Smart Technology Across Global Workspaces
Dan Smetham, Space Engineering Lead, oversees the technology powering Canva’s campuses — from network and AV infrastructure to physical security systems. Even with cloud-first tools in place, systems for access control and video operated independently, creating silos and manual processes that slowed response times.
“We were looking for smarter ways to connect our platforms — making the experience for Canvanauts, visitors, and our internal ‘Vibe Team’ as seamless as possible,” said Dan. “Existing tools could send alerts, but the intelligence and granularity we needed just weren’t there.”
Maintaining internally built automations also created ongoing maintenance overhead. Additionally, smaller or remote offices lacked dedicated on-site security resources — driving the need for technology that could act as an extra set of eyes.
Solution: A Unified Security Platform for Global Scale
Canva began its Verkada journey in San Francisco, installing intercoms during the office’s construction phase. The intuitive setup immediately proved valuable.
“A delivery driver rang an intercom after hours, and one of my team — who’d left the Command tab open — was able to see and let them in remotely,” said Dan. “That’s when we realised how powerful and flexible the system really is.”
Since then, Canva has standardised Verkada’s intercoms, access control, and cameras across new and upgraded campuses in Prague, Nottingham, and Sydney.
Intercoms: Replaced legacy systems to streamline visitor entry, with transcription and call routing improving accessibility and response times.
Access Control: Integrated with Canva’s identity provider to automatically assign the right door access from day one, reducing manual setup and management.
Cameras: Deployed high-resolution, AI-powered cameras with analytics for slip-and-fall detection, tailgating, and heatmaps for informed space utilisation.
Command Platform: Enabled central visibility and remote management across all global offices.
“It’s decommissioning internal tools we used to build ourselves. Verkada’s native integrations handle that now,” Dan explained.
Why Verkada
AI-Powered Insights: Reduce investigation times and identify incidents proactively with real-time alerts and activity detection.
Seamless Integration: Unify cameras, access control, intercom, and visitor management within a single cloud platform.
Scalability: Deploy, monitor, and manage security systems across global offices with minimal IT overhead.
Extensibility: APIs and integrations allow custom automations, such as Slack alerts and edge-based analytics.
Impact: Faster Investigations and Unified Visibility
Canva’s global protective security team now resolves incidents significantly faster and with greater situational awareness.
“Investigations that once took hours now take seconds. Even our Protective Security team noticed how fast AI-powered search narrows footage down,” said Dan.
In Nottingham, where a legacy on-premise system was replaced, both staff and visitors reported smoother building access and improved user experience. In Sydney, the integration of cameras and intercoms enhanced visibility and responsiveness — a major benefit across multi-building campuses.
By adopting access control readers that operate independently of the network, Canva reduced switch capacity and licensing requirements while improving latency and overall system responsiveness.
Employee and Visitor Experience
Canva’s Space Engineering team surveyed employees post-deployment, with respondents highlighting smoother, more seamless building access for both local staff and travelling Canvanauts, and an overall uplift in the experience of entering and working on campus.
“We want technology to support people before they even notice it — Verkada helps us deliver that seamless experience,” said Dan.
Through APIs and integrations, Canva is also exploring new ways to support proactive security — such as monitoring when people are wearing their badges and reminding people over Slack to keep their credentials visible.
“We want tech to step up where people can’t be everywhere at once,” Dan added. “Verkada helps us be proactive — not reactive — and gives us data to drive smarter workplace design.”
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Canva plans to expand Verkada across its growing real estate portfolio, including multi-tenant buildings and a forthcoming Sydney headquarters.
The team is also evaluating Operator View, Verkada’s ticket-based alert management system, to streamline incident routing and cross-region collaboration.
“Verkada’s continuous updates and partnership approach really stand out,” said Dan. “We’re able to share ideas directly with the product team — and see them come to life in new releases.”
Canva continues to set the standard for modern, connected workplaces — demonstrating how cloud-based physical security can support creativity, safety, and scale.