As we approach 2026, it’s clear that artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a pivotal role in shaping marketing strategies in India. If 2024 marked the initial exploration of AI by Indian marketers, 2025 was the year of significant advancement, shifting the focus from experimentation to the implementation of scalable solutions. The industry conversation has shifted from “What can AI create?” to “What can it solve?”
Mapping Intent to Enhance Search Capabilities
The landscape of search queries in India has become increasingly complex, requiring a deeper understanding of user intent. Brands like Lenovo, Cashify, Nykaa, and PolicyBazaar have adopted AI-driven solutions such as AI Max for Search, which go beyond traditional keyword lists. By capturing intent signals that manual methods often overlook, these companies have achieved impressive results. For instance, PolicyBazaar saw a 28% increase in policy bookings while reducing costs by 23%, while Lenovo saw a 73% boost in purchases and a 53% increase in revenue.
A significant aspect of intent matching involves creating content that responds to genuine human queries. Tira Beauty revamped 600,000 product titles and descriptions using AI tools such as Gemini, resulting in a 50% increase in organic clicks and a 27% increase in conversion value. Additionally, Myntra recognized the linguistic shifts among shoppers from non-metro cities and employed Google AI to transliterate English keywords to better align with local search patterns, yielding higher returns on investment.
Precision in Marketing for Immediate Relevance
Understanding not just what consumers want, but also when and where they want it, is crucial. In 2025, AI helped marketers understand the situational relevance of their audience, bridging the gap between generic outreach and personal connections. For example, MakeMyTrip used a Gemini-powered system to categorise YouTube content by travel theme, resulting in a 3x increase in conversion rates by delivering targeted hotel ads aligned with viewers’ current contexts.
Emeritus also leveraged AI-powered Demand Generation to effectively identify high-potential learners for their executive education courses, achieving 15% higher payments by ensuring that their top-performing creatives reached the right audience at the right moment.
Highlighting Agility in Marketing Strategies
In a dynamic market like India, agility often trumps scale. AI enables brands to respond swiftly to current trends. Myntra FWD developed an AI prediction engine that dramatically reduced the time from concept to market launch for emerging Gen Z trends, cutting it from months to mere weeks. Similarly, Swiggy Instamart used Veo 3 to launch festive campaigns at impressive speed, demonstrating that AI-generated ads can be more efficient and impactful than traditional methods.
Moreover, AI is enhancing emotional engagement in marketing efforts. HUL’s BRU campaign, Bru-Minder, encouraged users to share photos that created personalized storytelling experiences, nudging meaningful reconnections among loved ones through visually engaging content.
Looking Ahead to 2026: The Shift Towards AI as a Core Marketing Component
As we look forward to 2026, AI is expected to transition from a supporting tool to an essential foundation for marketing teams. Agentic AI will increasingly take on responsibility for planning and optimization, operating under human strategic guidance. This evolution is already evident in the functionality of Gemini-powered tools like Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor, which help manage the campaign lifecycle, from generating creative ideas to automating troubleshooting.
The future of measurement in marketing will extend beyond mere reporting, aiming to demonstrate the impact on profit margins as AI integrates consumer behaviour across various touchpoints such as discovery, video, and commerce. Additionally, the rise of democratised professional-grade asset creation, now fueled by Nano Banana Pro, will empower both large enterprises and smaller businesses, enhancing adaptability and speeding up creative processes.