Figma CFO Says Design Platform Willing to Put Margins on the Line to Boost AI Demand

3-line summary

• Speaking at Figma's Config user conference in Bengaluru, India, CFO Praveer Melwani said it's uncertain whether the company will return to its historical gross margin in the low-90s percent — 'I don't know' — but said that's not his top concern, per a Reuters report cited by Investing.com. Figma's quarterly gross margin has fallen from above 90% to the mid-80s over the past year as AI spending weighs on profitability, even as revenue keeps surging.
• The company is investing heavily in AI features, including a design assistant and tools to build prototypes or web apps from text prompts, aiming to widen adoption and compete with sophisticated tools from AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic. It introduced usage-based pricing for AI credits earlier this year, which the company said should help results in coming quarters; Melwani said Figma retains the ability to raise prices when appropriate. Figma shares are down about 43% this year amid investor scrutiny of tech-sector margin compression, falling free cash flow, and fears of AI-driven disruption.

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