E-commerce and BFSI push India’s advertising deeper into AI

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TL;DR:

Ecommerce, BFSI and consumer tech are pushing India’s advertising market deeper into AI-led buying, where automation, transaction data and measurable outcomes matter more. Commerce advertising is forecast to grow 29% in 2026, sharpening the shift.

Article:

Ecommerce, BFSI and consumer technology are emerging as early movers in India’s shift toward AI-led advertising, using automation to sharpen targeting, speed media decisions and link spend more directly to outcomes. The timing matters because brands are being pushed to prove returns across fragmented digital, commerce and connected-TV channels.

A mid-2026 industry forecast projected India’s advertising market at about ₹2 trillion this year, up 8.8%, while commerce advertising was expected to reach $3.9 billion, growing 29%. Retail media revenue was forecast to rise 30%, strengthening the case for categories built around frequent digital transactions and first-party data.

That data layer is where AI becomes commercially useful. Systems can combine audience signals, purchase behaviour and campaign performance to automate bidding, creative variation and optimisation in near real time, reducing the gap between a consumer signal and a media decision.

Mukesh Kumar, an associate partner at a strategy consulting firm, described the shift this way: “AI is not adding another layer to advertising, it is rewriting every layer of it at the same time.” The same report projected India’s digital advertising market to grow from roughly $21 billion in 2025 to $33–42 billion by 2030.

Programmatic buying is also becoming routine. Varun Mohan, an India commercial leader at an adtech company, told The Economic Times: “It is not a question for clients or agencies whether they are running a programmatic campaign; it is the default.”

The next test is governance, not novelty. Advertisers will need cleaner consent, stronger measurement and human oversight as AI takes on more planning and optimisation. The practical question is where AI can cut waste or improve conversion without weakening brand control.