The news: Figma’s latest AI-powered tools could be an ideal counterpart to AI image generators like Google’s Nano Banana, OpenAI’s DALL-E, and Midjourney. 

The update brings smarter image handling to Figma’s Design and Draw suite. 

• Object removal: Users can now remove or isolate objects, adjust lighting and focus, or extend backgrounds without leaving the platform. 
• Image expansion: The feature fills in missing details for different ad formats—turning a single asset into a full campaign set.

By automating time-consuming edits, these tools will help smaller agencies and in-house brand teams compete with big-budget creative studios.

Figma’s launch lands the same day Adobe brings similar tools to ChatGPT, but it’s unclear whether Figma’s new features will work inside OpenAI’s app, despite being an early integration partner, per TechCrunch.

Why this matters: Agencies spend a disproportionate amount of time on repetitive edits. A Content Marketing Institute (CMI) report found that 53% of B2B marketers already use AI to generate or modify creative assets, second only to content creation at 89%. 

AI’s most immediate unlock for creatives and brands is scale. AI tools like Figma allow marketers to personalize across products and audiences, spin creative into various visual formats, and localize for regions at a pace no human team could match.

That adoption reflects how AI is reshaping creative workflows by eliminating rote, manual steps that used to consume billable hours.

• Tasks like batch cropping, retouching, or resizing for various formats can now take minutes instead of half an hour or longer.
• Routine asset adaptation for devices and displays becomes two to three times faster across social, web, and ad formats, per Supalabs.
• Centralized tools reduce the need to switch between Photoshop, Canva, and Figma.

Why it matters for brands: At $16 per month for the full range of tools, a 10-person team subscription would cost $1,920 annually. If each designer saves just 20 hours monthly through AI automation—valued at $100/hour—the potential labor savings top $22,000 per year.

That cost-to-savings ratio reshapes agency economics. Smaller teams can now produce enterprise-grade creative output at a fraction of the cost, while larger firms can redirect savings toward strategy, testing, or media investment.

Figma’s AI upgrade marks a tipping point where creative workflow automation at scale is no longer prohibitive. As repetitive tasks get offloaded to smarter tools, brands and marketers can focus on vision, differentiation, and improved campaign strategy.