Samudra Manthan: India A&M Report 2026 by Dr Annurag Batra

Drawing on a 25-year vantage point at the centre of India’s Advertising and Marketing ecosystem, the report reframes industry churn as a leadership question

by Shripad Kulkarni
Published: Feb 12, 2026 6:00 PM | 1 min read

The "Samudra Manthan – India A&M Report 2026," authored by Dr. Annurag Batra, analyzes the evolving landscape of advertising and marketing amidst changes in media, data, AI, and accountability.
The report reframes industry discussions on media complexity, agency fragmentation, and automation as interconnected challenges for leadership rather than simply forecasting trends.
It is based on over 20 years of engagement with various stakeholders in the advertising ecosystem, including advertisers, agencies, and media networks.
The report's insights were developed from a 100-minute leadership conversation and will be available on the exchange4media website soon.

At a time when Advertising and marketing space is navigating structural change across media, agencies, data, AI, and growth accountability, Samudra Manthan – India A&M Report 2026 offers a structured view of the forces reshaping the ecosystem.

Authored by Dr Annurag Batra, the report does not position itself as a trend forecast or a platform review. Instead, it frames familiar industry debates — from media stack complexity to agency fragmentation and automation — as interconnected decision tensions for leadership.

Drawing on over two decades of continuous engagement with advertisers, agencies, media networks, start-ups, creators and platforms through exchange4media Impact and BW Businessworld, the report brings together patterns that are often examined in isolation.

The framework originated in an extended 100-minute leadership conversation on MatheMedia with Shripad Kulkarni. The depth and sweep of that dialogue, once structured, evolved into the final publication.

Samudra Manthan invites leaders to reconsider how Advertising and Marketing decisions are framed in an increasingly complex environment.

The full report will be available on exchange4media website soon.

Click here to read the full report.