From Hybrid Chaos to AI-Driven Innovation: The New Cloud Operating Model

In this panel discussion on cloud operating models and innovation, Brendan Humphreys, CTO of Canva, and Nam Je Cho, Director of Solutions Architecture at AWS, explore the evolving dynamics of scale, AI, and adaptability in cloud-first organisations. Brendan, who joined Canva in 2014 as an engineer and now leads over 2,300 engineers, emphasises the company’s founding ambition to “empower the world to design”. Canva’s cloud-native infrastructure was intentionally architected for scale from day one, beginning with Heroku atop AWS, then evolving into microservices. He notes the pragmatic decision to start monolithically with clear separation of concerns, allowing for later scalability without sacrificing speed to market. This approach aligns with ADAPT’s insights that 25% of organisations are now repatriating workloads from public cloud to hybrid environments to improve cost, compliance, and control.

Nam Je Cho highlights how Australian organisations are early and bold adopters of cloud innovation. He describes AWS’s approach…