Leonardo.ai

Leonardo.ai is a Sydney-based generative AI platform for creating images and art, growing from launch to over 19 million registered users and more than 1 billion images created in just 18 months. The company was acquired by Canva in July 2024.

As a Lead Engineer, my primary focus was scaling the API infrastructure to handle the explosive growth. This included preparing systems to handle 10x the existing scale, ensuring reliability and performance as user demand continued to surge.

Beyond scaling, I played a key role in establishing engineering standards across the team, building development workflows, and managing technical documentation. These foundations were critical for maintaining velocity and quality as the team grew rapidly.

I was part of the team both before and after the Canva acquisition, helping ensure a smooth transition while continuing to drive technical excellence. The acquisition integrated Leonardo's Phoenix foundational model into Canva's Magic Studio suite of AI tools.