Canva appoints MangoAI co-founder Nirmal Govind as chief algorithms officer

MUMBAI: Design platform Canva has appointed Nirmal Govind as its first chief algorithms officer following the acquisition of AI powered creative optimisation start up MangoAI. The move signals a sharper focus on performance driven artificial intelligence across Canva’s global ecosystem.

Govind, who co founded MangoAI in 2025, built the company around reinforcement learning for generative video advertising. In simple terms, it helped brands not just create ads, but continually refine them using data driven feedback loops. With the acquisition now complete, that experimentation mindset is set to scale inside Canva’s rapidly expanding AI stack.

Before launching MangoAI, Govind served as vice president of data science and engineering at Netflix, where he spent eight years leading teams across content, studio, creative production and streaming. He was part of Netflix’s executive staff, working closely with senior leadership on creative algorithms, localisation and production innovation.

His earlier career reflects a strong operations research pedigree. He held senior technology roles at Lightning Bolt Solutions and worked in engineering and optimisation at Intel Corporation and IBM. Academically, he holds a PhD in industrial engineering and operations research from Penn State University and a master’s degree from University of California, Berkeley.

For Canva, the appointment is more than a new title. It reflects the growing importance of algorithms in shaping not only how designs look, but how they perform. As brands demand measurable outcomes from creative work, the line between art and optimisation is blurring. Canva appears keen to sit right at that intersection.

With Govind now steering its algorithms strategy, Canva is betting that the future of design will not just be beautiful, but intelligently tuned for impact.