India's Ad Industry Faces 'Lazy Targeting' Problem, AI Won't Fix It: Gowthaman Ragothaman

India’s advertising industry is maturing fast, Gowthaman Ragothaman, a media, advertising and marketing veteran and founder of Saptharushi, says the biggest risks today are not technology gaps but lazy targeting, overstated AI claims, weak data discipline, and an outdated agency business model.

Interviews

S

Storyboard•30-01-2026, 09:02

India's Ad Industry Faces 'Lazy Targeting' Problem, AI Won't Fix It: Gowthaman Ragothaman

•Gowthaman Ragothaman, founder of Saptharushi, highlights 'lazy targeting', overstated AI claims, weak data discipline, and outdated agency models as major risks for India's ad industry.
•India's AdTech future will be shaped by UPI, QuickCommerce, and homegrown platforms, moving away from Silicon Valley's influence.
•Ragothaman predicts Indian consumers will trade privacy for free ChatGPT access, raising concerns about consent and data security.
•He argues that AI's current value in advertising is in automating campaign planning decisions, not full execution, due to interoperability challenges.
•Account planning is identified as a vulnerable function, as AI can synthesize insights faster than traditional teams.

Why It Matters: India's ad industry struggles with 'lazy targeting' and data issues, with AI offering limited solutions for execution.

Read Full Article on Storyboard in English

✦

More like this

Loading more articles...