Figma Deepens India Investment at Config India 2026, Unveils Code Layers, AI Integrations and Campus Leaders Programme

Bengaluru: Global design and product development platform Figma reinforced its commitment to India’s rapidly expanding technology and design ecosystem at Config India 2026, unveiling a series of AI-powered product innovations, a strategic partnership with Indian artificial intelligence company Sarvam AI and a new education initiative for university students.

Held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on October 15, the conference marked Figma’s first flagship Config event in India and its largest international Config gathering to date, with more than 30,000 registrations across in-person and virtual participation.

The announcements reflect Figma’s broader ambition to evolve from a collaborative design platform into an integrated product development environment where designers, developers, product managers and AI agents can work together from initial ideas to finished applications.

India has become an increasingly important market for the San Francisco-headquartered company. As of the second quarter of 2026, the country ranked as Figma’s second-largest market globally by daily active users and remained among its fastest-growing markets.

Code Layers brings design and functional development together

Among the major announcements at Config India was the introduction of Code Layers, a new capability that enables teams to create, explore, edit and compare code-backed prototypes directly within Figma’s collaborative design canvas.

The feature represents an important step toward reducing the separation between visual design and software development.

Traditionally, digital product development has followed a sequence in which product managers define requirements, designers create interfaces and developers translate those designs into functional applications. However, the emergence of AI-assisted coding tools is changing this workflow by allowing teams to experiment with functional products earlier in the development process.

Code Layers allows users to generate interactive prototypes through Figma’s AI agent, import existing work from GitHub repositories or connect external coding agents through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

The capability, introduced in open beta, is designed to help teams evaluate product interactions, communicate ideas more effectively and make collaborative decisions before moving toward production.

Speaking about the company’s evolving vision, Dylan Field, Co-founder and CEO of Figma, said:

“Figma was the first to introduce the multiplayer canvas for teams to design together. The next evolution is a full-stack creative canvas where teams and agents can build together, from idea to ship, in a visual-first way.”

The shift is particularly relevant as organizations increasingly adopt AI-powered development tools that can accelerate coding but may also create fragmented workflows when individuals work independently.

Figma’s approach aims to preserve the collaborative nature of product development while integrating the speed and capabilities of AI-assisted software creation.

Figma Specs and Payload expand the platform’s development capabilities

Alongside Code Layers, Figma introduced Figma Specs, a collaborative documentation environment that connects product requirements, design decisions and technical specifications.

The feature allows teams to embed diagrams, design frames, code layers and FigJam content directly into structured documentation. By bringing written requirements and visual context together, Figma aims to help teams communicate product intent more clearly and provide AI agents with the information needed to execute development tasks.

The company also announced improvements to design system management, including the ability to introduce guidelines into published design libraries and import code sources. These enhancements are intended to help AI agents follow established design patterns and maintain consistency across applications.

Another significant announcement involved Payload, the open-source backend framework and content management system that joined Figma in 2025.

The integration allows teams using Figma Make to connect applications with backend infrastructure and content management capabilities.

Designers can work with real content, marketers can update information through an administrative interface, and developers can customize applications using Payload’s open-source framework.

According to Figma, Payload downloads have increased sixfold over the past 12 months.

Together, these developments reflect the company’s effort to bring design, development, content management and deployment into a more connected workflow.

India-first partnership with Sarvam AI strengthens local ecosystem

Figma also announced an India-first MCP partnership with Sarvam AI, expanding its AI integration ecosystem and strengthening its engagement with India’s emerging artificial intelligence industry.

The collaboration enables users to incorporate Figma’s design context into workflows involving Sarvam’s Indus, helping AI-assisted development tools work with existing design requirements and product structures.

The partnership forms part of Figma’s broader expansion of its MCP ecosystem, which includes 20 new partners such as Meta Muse, OpenCode and Dia.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Pratyush Kumar, CEO and Co-founder of Sarvam, said:

“We’re excited to partner with Figma in an India-first AI collaboration. By combining our expertise in building AI for India with Figma’s rich design context, we can help teams build higher quality products, reduce rework, and accelerate overall product development.”

The partnership highlights the increasing convergence of AI development platforms and collaborative design tools, particularly as businesses seek to accelerate product development without compromising consistency and user experience.

Dylan Field highlights India’s design leadership

India’s expanding role in the global design ecosystem was a central theme of the conference.

Addressing attendees in Bengaluru, Field emphasized that design is becoming an increasingly important differentiator as artificial intelligence makes software development more accessible.

“In a world where code is becoming commoditized, design is increasingly the differentiator,” Field said.

Acknowledging the country’s growing design community and emerging talent, he added:

“It’s incredible to see how much design leadership there is in India, and how much ambition there is in the next generation of designers as well.”

His remarks come at a time when Indian enterprises, startups and technology companies are increasingly investing in digital product development and user experience.

Figma’s enterprise presence in India has also expanded considerably. According to the company, more than 40% of BSE 100 companies were using its platform as of Q2 2026.

Major Indian businesses including Airtel, CARS24, Groww, Juspay, Myntra, Swiggy, TCS and Zomato are among the companies using Figma for product design and development.

The company has also built a strong community presence in the country, with more than 33,000 active Friends of Figma members across 23 chapters.

Campus Leaders programme to support India’s next generation of designers

As part of its continued investment in India, Figma announced the expansion of its Campus Leaders programme to Indian universities.

The initiative marks the programme’s first expansion beyond the United States and Canada, where it currently operates across more than 60 university campuses.

Through the programme, selected students will have opportunities to organize design-focused events, build campus communities and develop leadership skills while promoting greater access to design education.

The inaugural Indian cohort is scheduled to begin in January 2027, with applications open until November 7, 2026.

The initiative complements Figma’s existing education offering, which provides eligible university students with free access to its professional design tools.

Figma has also expanded its local accessibility initiatives through Hindi-language product localization introduced earlier in 2026 and continues to recruit talent in India.

Config India reflects a broader shift in digital product development

Beyond the product announcements, Config India 2026 brought together designers, developers, entrepreneurs and creative professionals to discuss the changing relationship between technology, creativity and product innovation.

The conference featured speakers including fashion designer Masaba Gupta, representatives of sneaker brand Gully Labs, and technology leaders Ashish Kashyap and Saptarshi Prakash.

For Figma, the decision to host its flagship international conference in Bengaluru represents more than a geographical expansion. It reflects the increasing significance of India’s technology workforce, enterprise customer base and growing community of digital product creators.

As AI tools continue to reduce the time required to develop software, businesses face a new challenge: ensuring that faster development also produces useful, distinctive and well-designed digital experiences.

Figma’s latest announcements suggest that the company sees collaboration, design quality and shared product context as essential elements of this transition.

By connecting AI agents, functional code, design systems and backend capabilities within a collaborative platform, Figma is seeking to reshape how teams move from ideas to finished products.

For India’s startup and enterprise technology ecosystem, these developments could create new opportunities to accelerate product development while maintaining greater coordination between design and engineering teams.

With Code Layers, Figma Specs, expanded AI partnerships and a dedicated education initiative, Figma is positioning India as an important market in its next phase of growth.

The company’s growing presence also underscores a wider industry shift in which design is no longer viewed solely as the final visual layer of a digital product, but as a strategic capability influencing how technology is conceived, developed and delivered.