The New Media Code: Industry stalwarts on AI, data, and the future of media

The Indian media and marketing ecosystem is experiencing what experts call nothing short of a “big bang.” Artificial intelligence, quick commerce, and the smartphone revolution are collapsing consumer journeys, rewriting planning models, and forcing agencies, advertisers, and researchers to rethink their playbooks. In the first episode of Mathemedia, hosted by Shripad Kulkarni, Media veteran and Founder of Mathemedia, three industry veterans - Ajay Gupte, CEO - Wavemaker, WPP Media (Co-host), L.V. Krishnan, CEO - TAM Media Research, and Puneet Awasthi, Senior Executive at Kantar - came together to decode The New Media Code.

Kulkarni opened with perspective: “We are in the midst of nothing short of a big bang in media, with AI disrupting things at the discovery end and quick commerce disrupting right at the last step. Media is no longer just about reach, frequency and impact. Media is the full spectrum. Media is commerce, distribution, service and of course reputation.”

Smartphones as the new funnel

Krishnan underlined how consumer behavior has fundamentally shifted because of devices. “Advertisers and content makers chase eyeballs. And the shift has largely come with the ease and convenience smartphones provide,” he said. With India’s overall smartphone penetration at 46%, the number jumps to 95% among 15-30 year olds, making mobile the dominant medium.

He explained the power of one device collapsing the funnel: “First, social media for influencing. Second, mobile wallet for payment. And third, commerce sites for purchasing. All three sections of the funnel are being filled by one device. That’s why you see the explosion of platforms and personalization of communication at scale.”

The result has been an unprecedented rise in advertising activity. “If you look at just the number of brands, we’ve gone from about 200,000 to nearly 650,000 brands. First-time advertisers have moved from 1-2% earlier to 12-15%, and 90% of them are digital-first,” Krishnan noted.

The measurement conundrum

Awasthi highlighted the struggle for unified media measurement: “We have a variety of studies measuring different dimensions of consumption, but not stitching it into one cogent story. The biggest challenge is that stakeholders across the landscape need to come together to build a unified currency that adds real value to advertiser decisions.”

He stressed ROI is the central concern: “Advertisers want effectiveness and impact. Audiences today are exposed to multiple stimuli, and their engagement levels are not the same as a few years ago. Without collective effort, we won’t get measurability across media with yardsticks anchored to impact.”

A fragmented consumer journey

Gupte expanded on the new complexities: “Fragmentation has reached a completely different level. A consumer without intent can go through the entire purchase journey in 30 seconds now, you see an ad, you like it, you click, and you buy. So attribution across touchpoints has become the big question.”

He pointed to organizational silos as another layer of complexity: “Often commerce is managed by one team and branding by another. That creates push and pull on media budgets, making it even more complex. Which is why a single measurement form has become extremely important.”

Collaboration and convergence

Krishnan stressed that no single entity can solve these challenges alone. “The phase we’re entering is about collaboration. Platforms have last-mile consumer interaction, but we also need independent sampling-based panels. Both are equally important. The richer the collaboration, the richer the data the industry can use.”

Kulkarni summed this up: “It’s almost like saying there’s the width to cover and the depth to dig into, one study cannot do both.”

AI, data, and the future of agencies

The discussion turned to the role of data and AI in media planning. Krishnan described the deluge: “You have 600-700 linear TV channels, 100,000+ YouTube channels, 5,000+ connected TV tiles, plus DOOH and digital platforms. Agencies suddenly face thousands of options, each throwing back data. Managing this explosion is the big question.”

Gupte revealed how agencies are responding: “First-party data collection has become a part of most large advertisers. They’re collaborating with other data sources in clean-room formats to get a 360-degree consumer view. The landscape has totally changed, today, agencies are hiring data scientists, AI specialists, generative AI experts. The challenge is not just attracting them, but keeping them engaged in what is still a left-brained media math ecosystem.”

Krishnan added that experiments are already underway: “We’re working with vendors to see if media planning can move to a voice-led AI system. Imagine saying, ‘Alexa, create a media plan for maximizing reach.’ It sounds sci-fi, but it’s happening.”

Towards a CDC world

Looking to the future, Krishnan predicted the industry will evolve into a CDC structure - Content, Communication, and Data: “All integrated, all connected. Good content will always draw audiences, communication must be simple and direct, and data will continuously flow from connected devices. Organizations, whether media companies, agencies, or broadcasters, must build around this CDC cycle.”

Awasthi added that connected TV and immersive digital experiences will grow rapidly: “Linear and connected TV will converge. With better bandwidths, more devices, and IoT, immersive and faster call-to-action experiences will dominate.”

Real-time channel planning

The panel agreed channel planning will shift to a real-time, proactive model. Krishnan illustrated: “If a consumer is browsing holiday destinations during Independence Day week, the system should instantly serve travel and hotel communication. Channel planning will need to anticipate cohorts and serve content seamlessly across platforms.”

Awasthi said channel planners will demand better tools to track how platforms interact: “With thousands of options, discoverability and intersections across platforms will be critical. Planners will want visibility of these connections.”

Gupte concluded on an optimistic note: “It’s a very salivating proposition. The consumer journey has transformed. With real-time data and predictive capability, we can anticipate purchase intent instantly. That’s the world ahead.”

The first episode of Mathemedia thus painted a vivid picture: a fast-evolving media landscape where AI, data, and collaboration will redefine how brands connect with audiences. With smartphone penetration, the explosion of new advertisers, and the rise of immersive platforms, the “new media code” is no longer a theory, it is already here.