News & articles. At ConnectWeb Connectweb has a team of editors and researchers collating the most relevant information to you and your industry. All Directories' publications and sites provide a wealth of information for research or marketing, and are used by public and corporate libraries, educational institutions, government departments, corporations and SMEs across the country. Access the latest company news and announcements distributed through Medianet. Technology & Innovation 03/09/2026 22:07 Former SADA executive Lusine Yeghiazaryan joins Picsart as CFO to drive ai-native video growth strategy. MIAMI-BUSINESS WIRE- Picsart, the AI media production and distribution platform, where 100M+ creators and businesses worldwide make, market and monetize content, today announced the appointment of Lusine Yeghiazaryan as Chief Financial Officer. Yeghiazaryan joins Picsart at a pivotal chapter in its evolution, as the company expands beyond its roots as a leading creative platform to build a video-first, AI-powered production ecosystem. Already in motion, Picsart users created over 1.1B AI videos and images since launch, with YTD AI usage up 270% year over year - underscoring the company's accelerating push to capture a larger share of the fast-growing AI content market.[1] As CFO, Yeghiazaryan will lead global financial strategy, driving business expansion and long-term growth. Her incoming priority for the business is to align Picsart's financial trajectory with its video-first vision, balancing fiscal discipline with the rapid innovation required for AI-led scale. Hovhannes Avoyan, Founder and CEO of Picsart, said: "Lusine joins Picsart at an inflection point for both our company and the broader creative technology market. As AI and video transform how people create and communicate, we are focused on scaling the opportunities with the greatest potential to drive long-term growth and value. Lusine's experience building and guiding high-growth technology businesses will be instrumental as we execute on that ambition." Yeghiazaryan brings deep expertise in steering growth-stage technology companies. As former CFO of SADA Systems, she scaled the business into new services and AI revenue segments, oversaw a premier global partnership with Google Cloud, and led SADA's successful strategic sale to Insight Enterprises. Yeghiazaryan's career spans advisory consulting, financial services, content, hardware and SAAS industries including management roles at Diebold Nixdorf, Deloitte and GoPro. At Picsart, she will align financial strategy with the company's video-first pivot, overseeing the growth levers and capital allocation for AI development, optimizing monetization across the platform's evolving content creation ecosystem. Lusine Yeghiazaryan, CFO of Picsart, adds: "Picsart has the rare combination of global scale, strong consumer affinity and significant upside across some of technology's most dynamic markets. I'm excited to help shape the company's next chapter by pairing ambitious investment in AI and video with disciplined execution and a clear focus on monetization and value creation. We are ready to scale our capabilities while delivering lasting value to our customers and profitable growth of our business." A generative AI pioneer since 2016, Picsart has evolved from a world leading photo-editing platform into a comprehensive creative technology stack. Today, its expanding ecosystem includes video-first tools, a Creative AI Agent Marketplace, CLI and MCP integration (compatible with Claude and Codex), alongside desktop expansion via AI Playground. Notes to Editors About Picsart Picsart is the AI media production and distribution platform built for a content-first world. For more than 14 years, it has empowered the next generation of storytellers to create, scale and now monetize video content. Combining intuitive design tools, AI-powered image and video creation, and MCP and CLI functions, Picsart meets creators wherever they work. With more than 100 million monthly active users and over 2.5 billion downloads to date, Picsart is powering a new era of scalable, self-directed creativity, where content fuels identity, influence, and entrepreneurship. [1] Internal Picsart data based on global active user metrics, August 2025 - August 2026. Contact details: * Images - IMG_0919.jpg Picsart, the AI media production and distribution platform, where 100M+ creators and businesses worldwide make, market and monetize content, today announced the appointment of Lusine Yeghiazaryan as Chief Financial Officer. Download - Picsart_Logo.jpg Download ConnectWeb. ConnectWeb is Australia's leading publisher of biographical data, directories and specialist newsletters. With ConnectWeb you gain access to its comprehensive database of contacts and companies in media, government and associations. Connect with Connectweb.

Picsart has appointed Lusine Yeghiazaryan as chief financial officer. The AI media production platform, which serves over 100 million creators and businesses globally, is expanding beyond photo editing into video-first AI-powered content creation. Yeghiazaryan previously served as CFO of SADA Systems, where she scaled the business into new AI revenue segments and led its successful sale to Insight Enterprises. Her career includes leadership roles at Deloble Nixdorf, Deloitte, and GoPro. At Picsart, she will oversee financial strategy and capital allocation for AI development. Users have created over 1.1 billion AI videos and images since launch, with year-to-date AI usage up 270% year over year. The company aims to balance fiscal discipline with rapid innovation whilst expanding its video and AI capabilities.

Picsart v30.5.3 makes paid features free in August 2026, causing 1.23-star rating jump. Picsart's version 30.5.3, released August 12, 2026, triggered a sharp positive shift in user sentiment. The app's average rating jumped 1.23 stars after users reported that previously paywalled features became accessible for free, addressing a long-standing complaint about monetization. The update appears to have made previously paid features accessible for free, directly addressing a major complaint from earlier versions. Key takeaways * 01Picsart version 30.5.3 was followed by a 1.23-star rating increase, jumping from 2.89 to 4.12 stars. * 02The primary driver for the positive sentiment is the user-reported change of paid features becoming free. * 03Official release notes for v30.5.3 only mention bug fixes, with no announcement of a change in monetization or feature access. * 04Before the update, users frequently complained about aggressive paywalls, including blocks on basic functions like saving work. * 05The change may be an unintentional bug fix rather than a strategic pivot, as official pricing pages remain unchanged. * 06The app has a large user base, with over 2 million downloads on US iOS in the last 30 days. The updatelead. PicsArt, Inc.'s update to its popular photo editor, version 30.5.3, shipped on August 12, 2026, and appears to have made paid features free, causing a significant positive rating shift. Paywall reversaluser reception. The primary driver behind the app's rating jump from 2.89 to 4.12 stars is a change in feature access. [1] Before the update, user reviews for version 30.5.2 frequently cited frustration with paywalls. One 1-star reviewer complained, "you have to pay for everything now and they added AI slop." Another noted being blocked from a basic function: "You should be able to screenshot your work, even if you don't have premium." After the update to version 30.5.3, the tone shifted dramatically. A 5-star reviewer celebrated the change, stating, "This app helped me make layouts for for rants and making wallpapers are easier plus I don't have to pay for anything ." This direct contrast in user experience pinpoints the perceived removal of paywalls as the cause of the sentiment reversal. Undocumented changerelease summary. Despite the significant user impact, official communication from PicsArt, Inc. is silent on the matter. The release notes for version 30.5.3 on the Apple App Store are generic, stating, "While this one tidies up a few bugs, the real action happens behind the scenes." No specific changelog details a strategic shift in the freemium model. This lack of an official announcement suggests the change may not have been a deliberate marketing move. The app, which saw over 2 million downloads in the last 30 days, has a history of user complaints about its monetization strategy. Threads on Reddit from 2025 show users discussing alternatives, with one post stating, "I've been using it for years, but now that they're charging for almost everything, I'm looking for an alternative." Archived. A corrective bugfix?root cause. Given the absence of an official announcement, the most probable cause is not a strategic pivot but a corrective action. Version 30.5.3 likely fixed a bug or altered a server-side setting that was incorrectly placing free features behind a paywall. This would explain the sudden wave of positive user reviews without a corresponding press release or marketing campaign. This hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that the company's pricing guides, updated in August 2026, still promote paid "Pro" and "Ultra" subscription tiers. The change appears to be a bug fix that restored access, rather than a deliberate decision to make the app more generous. The publisher's dilemmaexpert verdict. The positive user reaction to version 30.5.3 presents a dilemma for PicsArt, Inc. If the expanded free access was an unintentional result of a bug fix, reversing it in a future update would almost certainly trigger a backlash from the newly satisfied user base. The publisher must now decide whether to embrace the more generous free model, potentially impacting subscription revenue, or revert the change and risk significant negative sentiment. This event demonstrates how sensitive users are to monetization tactics, especially for long-standing creative tools. The company's next move will show whether it prioritizes short-term revenue from its subscription plans or the long-term goodwill of its large free user base. * [1] The app's rating increased by 1.23 stars, from 2.89 to 4.12, following the release of version 30.5.3. "Picsart version 30.5.3 was released on August 12, 2026, and was followed by a 1.23-star increase in the app's average rating." mwm analyticsMWM Intelligencemwm.ai * [2] After updating to version 30.5.3, a user reported being able to use the app without payment. "This app helped me make layouts for for rants and making wallpapers are easier plus I don't have to pay for anything" mwm analyticsMWM Intelligencemwm.ai * [3] Official release notes for version 30.5.3 do not mention changes to feature accessibility, only referencing bug fixes. "While this one tidies up a few bugs, the real action happens behind the scenes-new features, fresh content, stickers, and templates dropping all the time."" OfficialAppleapps.apple.com 5 references App stores Community forums Maxime Doussin Maxime Doussin is the CTO of MWM, where he leads engineering, data infrastructure, and the mobile-app market-intelligence platform. He writes MWM's weekly app trend analysis, drawing on proprietary ranking data covering millions of iOS and Android apps across 150+ countries. This article is an independent editorial analysis. App names, trademarks, and brands mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Market data and rankings referenced are based on MWM's proprietary estimates. Believe this article infringes your intellectual property? File a dispute