Design software giant Canva has halted normal operations across its 5300-strong global workforce for five days of nothing but AI learning and hackathons, bucking the global wave of technology giants that have slashed jobs, citing the technology. Dubbed “AI Discovery Week”, the program involves more than 60 talks and workshop sessions, speakers flown in from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, and a pizza party that, by one Canva executive’s measurement, demolished 50 metres of pizza in 27 minutes. The move comes after WiseTech Global, Block and Atlassian have all reduced headcount in the past six months, with executives in some cases pointing to artificial intelligence as the reason productivity gains made the cuts possible. Canva’s stop-work program is optional, not compulsory, but has led to a Sydney office that is so full this week that staff are struggling to find a desk. Canva’s head of people Jennie Rogerson.…