Canva hires Brent Irwin as head of global channel sales

Following the company’s official launch of its channel program earlier this year.

Graphic design giant Canva has hired Brent Irwin as its new head of global channel sales months after the company revealed its brand new channel strategy.

Before stepping into this role, Irwin spent the past 20 years at Adobe where he was working in several go-to-market and sales roles. His last role at Adobe was senior director – APAC field sales.

Irwin told CRN Australia that Canva is at a “fascinating” inflection point.

“We're seeing massive enterprise adoption as visual communication becomes table stakes across the workplace. However, this growth has predominantly been through direct channels,” he said.

“I saw an incredible opportunity to amplify that existing momentum by building a thriving global channel partner network that extends Canva's reach to even more organisations around the world.”

Irwin added, “The chance to develop a comprehensive partner program around a platform that has already demonstrated strong enterprise product-market fit was simply too compelling to pass up.”

With Canva’s rapid global adoption, the potential for its reseller channel is massive, Irwin explained.

“I’m looking forward to driving new market expansion, scaling our partner ecosystem, and delivering value to customers at a pace we’ve never achieved before,” he said.

Looking at Australia’s IT channel, Irwin said it has “strong customer trust and reach”.

“Partners in Australia are incredibly close to their customers and understand their unique challenges,” he said.

“The key is helping them add more value in each interaction. Canva’s platform gives them an opportunity to do exactly that — making design and visual communication faster, easier, and more impactful.”

Need for the channel

In May this year, Canva unveiled to CRN Australia its inaugural channel strategy and partner program. To reach new customers in particular markets and hit new revenue targets, the company knew it needed to create a go-to-market strategy.

Irwin said the channel community is “vital” to Canva’s growth.

“As we scale globally, our focus is shifting from user growth to embedding Canva into how teams and enterprises work,” he said.

“The channel is a critical part of this strategy, acting as a strategic lever for global expansion.”

Irwin said the channel allows Canva to reach markets where they may not have a direct sales presence.

“Partners bring their relationships, market knowledge, and the ability to navigate regional nuances,” he said.

“We’re already seeing wins where partners are unlocking opportunities that would be hard to access through a centralised model. These partnerships allow us to expand our footprint faster and deliver better, locally tailored outcomes for customers.”

For this role, Irwin will be based in Sydney.