Map the Five-Layer AI Stack

Build a Canva lesson on AI infrastructure using a self-driving car.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

A self-driving car can look like one product making one promise: reliable automated driving. That promise rests on a hidden system reaching from electricity to customer demand.

In this project, you will build a classroom-ready deck in Canva Presentations that deconstructs a self-driving car through Jensen Huang's five-layer AI stack. You will turn the stack into a two-way map of technical capability and economic demand.

What You'll Build

You present a self-driving-car map that lets your class trace how one power bottleneck changes decisions all the way up to the customer experience.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

A five-layer visual that lets you explain Energy, Chips, Infrastructure, Models, and Applications in plain language.
A two-direction map that follows capability and cost structure upward. It also follows demand and investment downward.
A classroom mini workshop where learners classify the stack before tracing one bottleneck through it.
Secret Mission: Rebuild the same dependency map for a legal copilot to prove the framework transfers beyond autonomous vehicles.

Are there any prerequisites?

You need a Windows device with Microsoft Edge plus access to Canva. No technical background is required because each concept is introduced through the self-driving-car example.

Before We Start

Before any slide work begins, lock in the classroom outcome for entry-level and technical participants. This commitment keeps your presentation focused on the technical and economic dependencies beneath a self-driving-car AI application.

Set Up the Canva Classroom Deck

Your classroom explanation needs a dependable starting point. A verified source board keeps the five-layer AI stack tied to Huang's framework.

Your Canva deck also needs to work in front of an audience. This step creates a sourced presentation that you can open full screen.

In this step, get ready to:

Prepare the presentation workspace.
Build the source-backed opening slides.
Verify the classroom presentation flow.

Create the presentation workspace

Canva Presentations runs in Microsoft Edge without a desktop installation. A 16:9 canvas matches the standard shape used for on-screen presentations.

Press the Windows key to open Windows Search.

You should see the Windows Search panel.

Type Microsoft Edge into Windows Search.

You should see Microsoft Edge in the search results.

Press Enter to open Microsoft Edge.

You should see a Microsoft Edge window.

Use the address bar to visit https://www.canva.com/presentations/.
Complete Canva's sign-in flow with your existing account.

You should see Canva's presentation workspace under your account.

Start a new presentation using the 16:9 option.
Replace the presentation name with From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack.

You should see a widescreen canvas with the presentation name at the top of the editor.

Select Projects from Canva's navigation.

You should see From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack listed in your Canva Projects.

Select the presentation card to return to the editor.

Deck Size or Title Look Wrong?

Re-enter From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack in the presentation title field if the name differs.
Create a replacement presentation using 16:9 if the canvas shape is wrong.

Get help fixing your Canva presentation setup.

Build the title and source slides

The title slide tells your audience what the lesson covers. The source slide gives you a visible link back to the framework behind the lesson.

Select the first slide thumbnail in the editor.
Use the text controls in the left sidebar to place From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack as the main heading.

You should see the full presentation title on the first slide.

Use the page control beneath the canvas to add a blank second slide.
Place Sources at the top of the second slide.

You should see a second slide ready to hold the three references.

Add the official NVIDIA five-layer article as the first reference.
Add the NVIDIA autonomous-vehicle overview as the second reference.

You should now see two NVIDIA references on the source slide.

Add the Canva presentation guide as the third reference.
Review the source slide for all three references.

You should see a Sources heading with links to the NVIDIA article, the autonomous-vehicle overview, and the Canva guide.

Why Build the Source Board Now?

The source slide gives each later diagram a clear foundation. It keeps attractive visuals from drifting away from the five-layer framework.

The NVIDIA references support the subject matter. The Canva guide supports the presentation workflow.

Add presenter notes and test the deck

Presenter notes hold cues that stay out of the audience-facing slide. Placing the class outcome there keeps your delivery focused on the result learners should reach.

Select the title slide thumbnail.
Select Notes at the bottom of the editor.

You should see the presenter notes area beneath the slide.

Enter By the end of this class, you can trace the technical and economic dependencies beneath a self-driving car through Energy, Chips, Infrastructure, Models, and Applications.

The title slide now carries a one-sentence outcome for your classroom delivery.

Before you start the presentation, think about which slide you expect to fill the screen first.

Select Present from the top menu.
Choose Present fullscreen.

You should see the title slide fill the screen.

Can't See Present?

Select Share if Present is hidden.
Select Present from the Share menu.

Get help opening Canva presentation mode.

Press ESC to exit presentation mode.

You should return to the Canva editor with the title slide, source slide, and presenter notes intact.

You have the classroom foundation locked in. Next, you will build the five-layer stack that your class can see and question.

Build the Five-Layer Stack

Your title slide sets the topic. Your source slide anchors the Canva presentation in official material.

The next goal is a five-block AI stack that your audience can read in seconds.

A clean vertical stack hides why each layer exists. Its labels also leave the costs invisible.

The linear shape also hides how application success creates demand below. That deliberate gap gives your class a problem to investigate.

In this step, get ready to:

Build five vertically ordered blocks for the layers of the stack.
Add a plain-language question to each layer.
Present the self-driving-car example to expose what the static stack leaves unanswered.

Build the ordered layer blocks

The official sequence starts with Energy as the foundation. Applications sit at the top where economic value is created.

Select the title slide in the presentation editor.
Add a blank slide directly after the title slide using the page control beneath it.

You should now see a blank slide between the title slide and the source slide.

Use the left sidebar to add one rectangle from Canva's shape collection.
Resize the rectangle into a wide block with enough room for a label and a short question.

You should now see one wide block on the blank slide.

Duplicate the rectangle four times using the shape's duplication control.
Arrange the five rectangles in one vertical column with even spacing.

You should now see five matching blocks stacked from the bottom of the slide to the top.

Apply a different fill color to each rectangle.
Label the blocks from bottom to top with Energy, Chips, Infrastructure, Models, and Applications.

You should now see five color-coded layers in the exact order from Energy at the bottom to Applications at the top.

Before you present this first version, do you think the order alone explains why each layer exists? The full-screen view tests that assumption.

Select Present from the top menu.

You will see all five layers in order. The labels do not explain what each layer supplies or how demand moves through the stack.

Press ESC to return to the presentation editor.

Why Leave the First Map Incomplete?

The static diagram shows sequence. It leaves each layer's responsibilities invisible.

It also leaves the economic consequences hidden. This is the intended shortfall that your class will investigate.

Add a question to each layer

Each question turns a layer name into a job that the audience can discuss. Short wording keeps the stack readable from across a classroom.

Add What capacity is available? inside the Energy block.
Add What computes? inside the Chips block.

The bottom two blocks now ask about available capacity and computation.

Add What scales and connects compute? inside the Infrastructure block.
Add What capability is learned? inside the Models block.

The middle blocks now ask how computation scales and how learned capability emerges.

Add What user problem creates value? inside the Applications block.

Every layer now has one question that your audience can explain in plain language.

Frame the self-driving-car problem

The application layer becomes concrete when the audience can picture a customer outcome. A self-driving car turns the abstract stack into a recognizable product.

Add Self-Driving Car inside the Applications block.
Add this prompt beneath the stack: A customer wants reliable automated driving. What must every lower layer supply, and how does value at the top create demand below?

The application example is now visible. The prompt asks your class to trace the dependencies beneath it.

Add This static stack does not yet answer these questions. beneath the prompt.

The slide now makes its limitation explicit. Your audience can see the framework before they investigate its missing logic.

Before you present this version, do you expect the audience to spot all five layers without your narration? Your next check tests that prediction.

Select Present from the top menu.

You should see five ordered color blocks labeled Energy, Chips, Infrastructure, Models, and Applications. You should also see Self-Driving Car plus the unresolved dependency prompt.

Press ESC to return to the presentation editor.

Can't See the Full Stack in Present Mode?

Confirm that every rectangle sits inside the slide boundaries.
Select the five-layer stack slide before entering presentation mode again.
Select Share if Present is missing from the top menu.
Select Present from the menu that opens.

Help me fix my five-layer stack layout in Canva.

That first visual is working: the class can see the full stack plus its unanswered dependency problem. Next, you will add the two directions that turn the stack into a system.

Map Capability, Cost, and Demand

Your baseline slide in Canva names every layer clearly. However, the vertical stack leaves the business logic between those layers unanswered.

This step converts that snapshot into a two-direction systems map. The upward path shows how lower-layer capacity shapes application economics.

The return path shows how application success creates demand below. Together, the paths expose the feedback system behind a self-driving car.

In this step, get ready to:

Map both flow directions beside the stack.
Give every layer an operating question.
Complete the self-driving-car feedback loop.

Add the two directional arrows

A systems map makes direction visible. Foundational capacity flows upward while application demand flows downward.

Duplicating the current stack slide preserves the colors and layer order you already tested.

Duplicate the baseline stack slide with the page controls beneath its thumbnail.
Remove the long customer prompt from the duplicated slide.

You should now see a separate systems-map slide with the same five colored layers.

Place a large upward arrow beside the stack from Energy toward Applications.
Label the upward arrow Capability and cost structure.

You should see the upward arrow connect the foundation of the stack to the application layer.

Place a large downward arrow on the other side of the stack from Applications toward Energy.
Label the downward arrow Demand and investment.

You should now see two opposing paths framing the five layers.

Why do the arrows point in opposite directions?

Capacity, efficiency, and cost constraints begin in the lower layers. They shape what models and applications can achieve.

Adoption begins at the application layer. It creates investment pressure all the way down to Energy.

Arrows hard to read?

Make each arrow wide enough to remain visible in presentation mode.
Check that the upward arrowhead ends beside Applications.
Check that the downward arrowhead ends beside Energy.

Help me fix the directions or readability of my Canva systems-map arrows.

Replace labels with operating questions

The baseline slide used introductory questions. This map upgrades them into operating questions about feasibility.

Each question reveals a decision that can change the economics of the self-driving-car application.

Replace the question inside the Energy block with Is affordable capacity available?.
Replace the question inside the Chips block with What performance, supply, and cost are achievable?.

The first two layers should now connect available capacity to achievable computing economics.

Replace the question inside the Infrastructure block with Can compute be financed, built, utilized, and operated at scale?.
Replace the question inside the Models block with Is capability differentiated and economical to train and serve?.

The middle layers should now expose the pressures created by scale and model economics.

Replace the question inside the Applications block with Which customer outcome creates adoption or revenue?.

Every layer now asks a question that connects its technical role to an economic decision.

What do these questions reveal?

The questions move the slide from categories to decisions. Your audience can identify where affordability, capability, or adoption changes the outcome.

This makes the five layers useful for reasoning about a real AI product.

Build the self-driving-car feedback loop

Layer questions explain local decisions. A feedback loop connects those decisions across the full stack.

The loop begins with application value. Demand travels downward before lower-layer improvements expand the application opportunity.

Add Useful driving features create adoption and usage near the Applications block.
Add Usage increases model, infrastructure, chip, and energy demand beside the downward arrow.

The first half of the loop should now show application success pulling demand toward the lower layers.

Add Lower-layer investment and efficiency can improve capability or cost beside the upward arrow.
Add Improved economics can expand the application opportunity near the Applications block.

The second half of the loop should now show lower-layer improvements returning value to the application.

Link the four feedback statements into one loop with connector arrows.
Add This is a feedback system. A one-way production line misses the return path from application value to lower-layer demand. along the bottom of the slide.

You should now see a closed path from application value to lower-layer demand and back to application opportunity.

Before you test the slide, predict whether its first visible flow begins at the Energy layer or the Applications layer.

Start the slideshow by selecting Present in Canva's top menu.

You should see the upward arrow begin at Energy. You should also see the downward arrow begin at Applications.

Trace the upward arrow from Energy to Applications.
Trace the downward arrow from Applications to Energy.

The upward explanation should connect capacity to application economics. The downward explanation should connect customer value to demand and investment.

Return to the Canva editor by pressing ESC.

You have turned a static stack into a working systems explanation. Your audience can now follow both the technical path upward and the economic path downward.

Does one direction feel unclear?

Check that each arrowhead points toward the layer named in its explanation.
Keep the upward label beside the Energy-to-Applications arrow.
Keep the downward label beside the Applications-to-Energy arrow.

Help me explain both directions in my five-layer self-driving-car systems map.

Your systems map now explains how value, demand, capacity, and cost interact. Next, you will stress-test that logic with a lower-layer bottleneck.

Stress-Test the Stack with a Bottleneck

Your Canva systems map now shows how capability and cost structure move upward through the five-layer AI stack. It also shows how demand and investment move downward.

A stack becomes useful when it explains consequences. In this step, you will test how scarce power and data-center capacity change costs, timelines, and choices across the system.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a bottleneck prompt slide for a 60-second discussion.
Build a reveal slide that traces bounded responses across the stack.
Use presenter notes to guide a technical rehearsal.

Create the bottleneck prompt slide

A bottleneck is a constraint that limits what the wider system can support. This exercise asks the audience to trace the consequences before they see any suggested responses.

Add a blank slide after the systems-map slide using the page control beneath it.
Place Demand for the self-driving service rises faster than available power and data-center capacity. Which layers feel the constraint, and what choices must the company make? in large text at the center of the slide.

Before you present the prompt, consider whether participants will start with Energy or Infrastructure.

Show the prompt by selecting Present in the top menu.
Invite the group to identify the first constrained layer.
Ask the group to trace effects through at least two other layers.
Give the group 60 seconds to discuss.
Exit presentation mode by pressing ESC.

You should hear at least one participant identify a constrained layer. You should also hear a consequence traced into another layer.

You have now exposed the map's missing piece. The audience needs consequences and choices before the categories become useful.

Prompt hard to read in Present mode?

Return to the editor with ESC.
Increase the prompt text size until it fills most of the slide.
Move the text box inward if any words sit close to the slide edges.

Get help making the bottleneck prompt readable.

Build the bounded reveal

A bounded reveal offers plausible responses without presenting one inevitable chain. It shows how a constraint creates trade-offs across the stack.

Duplicate the prompt slide using the duplicate control above its page thumbnail.
Add the reveal text beneath the prompt by pasting these lines:

Scarce energy limits expansion.
Chips and infrastructure must be allocated.
Training, simulation, or serving budgets face trade-offs.
Model improvements may be prioritized.
The application may change pricing, rollout speed, service scope, or efficiency targets.
A lower-layer constraint creates choices and costs, not an automatic application failure.

How Does the Reveal Work?

The first two lines connect scarce capacity to expansion and resource allocation.
The next three lines show budget, model, and application choices.
The final line keeps the causal claim precise. A bottleneck raises trade-offs without guaranteeing application failure.

Show the reveal slide by selecting Present in the top menu.

You should see five bounded possibilities followed by the warning about automatic application failure. Every response should remain readable without covering the original prompt.

Missing Part of the Reveal?

Return to the editor with ESC.
Compare the reveal text with the six lines above.
Resize the text box if the final warning falls outside the slide.

Get help fixing the bottleneck reveal.

Rehearse with a technical note

The presenter note turns the reveal into a deeper discussion about response types. It helps technical participants distinguish reduced demand from added capacity.

Return to the editor by pressing ESC.
Select Notes at the bottom of the editor.

You should see the notes panel for the bottleneck reveal slide.

Add Which response reduces demand, which improves efficiency, which adds capacity, and which merely moves the bottleneck? to the presenter notes.
Read the saved note in the panel to confirm that the full question appears.

Before you run the full exercise, consider whether the reveal will show one inevitable outcome or a range of choices.

Select the bottleneck prompt slide in the page filmstrip.
Start the exercise by selecting Present in the top menu.
Give participants 60 seconds to discuss the prompt.
Advance to the bottleneck reveal slide.
Ask one participant to name the first constrained layer.
Ask the participant to trace at least two plausible business or technical effects.

You should hear a trace that connects the lower-layer constraint to at least two later effects. The reveal should support multiple plausible responses without promising application failure.

Trace Stops After One Layer?

Return to the systems-map slide from earlier.
Follow the upward arrow from Energy one layer at a time.
Repeat the exercise with one effect attached to each transition.

Get help tracing the bottleneck across the stack.

Return to the Canva editor by pressing ESC.

Your deck now turns a static stack into a 60-second reasoning exercise. Next, you will make the full presentation interactive for both beginner and technical participants.

Turn the Map into a Mini Workshop

Your deck now explains the AI stack as a feedback system. The bottleneck exercise shows how a lower-layer constraint creates choices across the business.

A correct diagram can still turn into a passive lecture. The audience needs a reason to classify the system for themselves.

You will add an audience classification activity. You will rehearse from two levels of presenter notes.

A PDF backup gives you a classroom copy that preserves those notes.

In this step, get ready to:

Build a classification activity for the five-layer stack.
Add two-level presenter notes to every major slide.
Prepare a rehearsed workshop with a PDF backup.

Build the classification activity

Classification makes the audience decide where each dependency belongs. In the Canva editor from earlier, each card represents one dependency to classify.

Use the page controls below the bottleneck reveal slide to insert a blank slide.
Create a card labeled power contract.
Create a card labeled AI accelerator purchase.
Create a card labeled data-center and network capacity.
Create a card labeled perception and planning model.
Create a card labeled paid self-driving feature.
Create a card labeled vehicle sensor.

That activity shell is ready. Your audience now has six concrete items to debate.

Add this prompt to the slide: Place the first five cards in the stack. Explain how the vehicle sensor acts as a product input without forming a complete layer.
Arrange the six cards so every label is visible at presentation size.

Facilitator Answer

The power contract belongs in Energy.
The AI accelerator purchase belongs in Chips.
The data-center and network capacity belongs in Infrastructure.
The perception and planning model belongs in Models.
The paid self-driving feature belongs in Applications.

The vehicle sensor supplies data to the product. Its role crosses the stack without forming a complete industrial layer.

Add two-level presenter notes

A two-level talk track keeps the essential idea accessible. It also gives technical participants a deeper question to investigate.

How Two-Level Notes Work

A line beginning with Beginner explanation states the slide's essential idea in plain language.

A line beginning with Technical probe asks about architecture or economics.

Title slide focus: The classroom outcome.
Five-layer stack focus: The purpose of each layer.
Systems map focus: The two directions of the feedback system.
Bottleneck prompt focus: The first layer participants expect to feel the constraint.
Bottleneck reveal focus: Which response reduces demand, which improves efficiency, which adds capacity, and which merely moves the bottleneck?
Classification slide focus: The card placements plus the vehicle sensor's cross-layer role.

Return to the title slide in the page strip.
Select Notes at the bottom of the editor.
Add a note line beginning with Beginner explanation followed by one plain-language sentence.
Add a note line beginning with Technical probe followed by one deeper question.

The title slide now sets expectations for both audience levels.

Complete the same two-line note structure on the five-layer stack slide.
Complete the same two-line note structure on the systems map slide.
Complete the same two-line note structure on the bottleneck prompt slide.
Complete the two-line notes on the bottleneck reveal slide by keeping its existing question after Technical probe.
Complete the same two-line note structure on the classification slide.

Your workshop now has a plain-language route into every major slide. Each slide also has a question that can stretch a technical participant.

Rehearse the workshop and create its backup

Presenter View separates your private notes from the audience-facing slides. That split lets you facilitate the activity without putting your talk track on screen.

A PDF backup preserves the presentation pages with their matching notes. It gives you a fallback for the classroom.

Before you rehearse, which slide do you expect to need the clearest spoken bridge? Hold that prediction in mind.

Select Present from the top menu.
Choose Present fullscreen.
Advance through every slide as if you were teaching the class.
Press ESC to return to the editor.

You will see the classification activity after the bottleneck reveal. This sequence turns the class from observers into participants.

Before you open Presenter View, where do you expect the notes to appear? Keep your prediction in mind.

Select Present again.
Choose Presenter View.
Check the presenter window for the two note lines.
Check the audience window for the current slide.

You will see your notes in the presenter window. You will see only the slide in the audience window.

Presenter View Not Separating the Windows?

Allow Canva to open an additional browser window if Microsoft Edge blocks it.
Return to Canva after allowing the window.
Choose Presenter View again.

Need help with the presenter and audience windows?

Keep the Backup Free

Canva changes the export flow when a design contains a paid element. A Pay and Download option signals that the design includes one.

Stop the export if you see Pay and Download.
Replace the paid element before continuing.

Before you open the backup, what two parts of the workshop do you expect the file to contain? Keep that prediction in mind.

Exit presentation mode by pressing ESC.
Select Share.
Select Download.
Select PDF.
Open Advanced Settings.
Turn on Include notes.
Select Download.
Open the downloaded PDF from your browser's download list.

You will see the presentation pages in the PDF. You will also see the presenter notes beneath their matching pages.

PDF Missing the Presenter Notes?

Return to the download settings if the PDF contains slides only.
Turn on Include notes before downloading again.
Open the newest downloaded file from your browser's download list.

Need help exporting the notes with your Canva presentation?

That is the facilitation layer complete. Your classification activity is ready for the room.

Your two-level notes now support the rehearsal. Your PDF backup preserves them for class.

Secret mission

Transfer the Stack to a Legal Copilot

Rebuild your five-layer map around a hypothetical legal copilot that reviews a document and drafts a cited answer. Then trace a retrieval failure across the stack to prove the framework transfers beyond autonomous vehicles.

Clean Up Your Resources

Your Canva presentation and PDF backup remain within this project's $0 additional-cost setup. Decide whether to keep both resources available, pause your work for later, or delete them entirely.

Cost warning

The deck is designed to use free elements. A paid element changes the export button to Pay and Download.

Replace paid elements before exporting unless you intend to purchase them.

Resources you used:

The presentation From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack stored in Projects.
The PDF backup with presenter notes stored on your Windows device.

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you are still teaching from the deck or refining its activities.

Leave From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack in Canva Projects.
Keep the PDF backup with notes in its saved location on your Windows device.
Use Present when you want to deliver the audience view.
Use Presenter View when you need the presenter notes during a workshop.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Close the current views to clear your workspace. Your Canva design and local PDF remain available for later.

Close the opened PDF backup.
Close the Canva presentation editor tab in Microsoft Edge.
Return to Canva Projects later to reopen From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack.
Open the saved PDF backup when you need the offline copy with notes.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove the Canva presentation and the local PDF backup when you no longer need the workshop.

Delete the Canva Presentation

Switch back to the Canva editor from earlier.
Select Projects.
Hover over From Infrastructure to Value: The Five-Layer AI Stack.
Select the More icon.
Choose Move to Trash.
Confirm the presentation no longer appears among your active designs in Projects.

Delete the PDF Backup

Return to the folder where you saved the PDF backup earlier.
Select the PDF backup that contains the presenter notes.
Press Delete.
Confirm the PDF no longer appears in its saved folder.

Nice Work!

You made it! Your rehearsed Canva presentation now turns Jensen Huang's five-layer AI stack into an interactive classroom lesson.

What you learned:

Build a classroom-ready five-layer visual that connects a self-driving car's customer value to every supporting layer.
Explain capability and cost structure as an upward flow. Explain demand and investment as a downward flow. Use a bottleneck exercise to show how scarcity creates choices across the stack.
Deliver the workshop with Beginner explanation notes for entry-level learners. Use Technical probe notes to challenge technical participants. Keep a PDF backup with presenter notes ready for the classroom.
Secret Mission: Transferred the five-layer method to a legal copilot. Marked sensitive-data governance as a cross-layer concern. Traced how unavailable retrieval data can lead to an unsupported answer.

Ready to quiz yourself?