The transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) took center stage at the IAA Conversations, held in Mumbai on January 21. Prof. Sunil Gupta, Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and Co-chair of the Executive Program “Driving Digital Strategy” at Harvard Business School, led the discussion on AI’s impact on industries, advertising, branding, and the challenges it poses. Moderated by Babita Baruah, CEO of VML India and IAA Mancom member, the session was aptly titled Marketing in the Age of AI.
The Transformative Potential of AI
Prof. Gupta began by shedding light on the disruptive nature of AI and how it creates value for businesses. He emphasized three key ways AI influences industries:
- Augmentation and Automation: AI supports businesses in automating processes, saving time, and cutting costs.
- Growth and Expansion: Companies are exploring AI to identify new opportunities and expand their reach.
- Innovation and Disruption: AI’s accessibility and ease of content creation encourage experimentation and drive innovation.
“Almost every business across categories, not just advertising, is thinking about AI and how it will affect their business. Technology will affect us in three different ways. The first is to augment and automate. The other aspect is that companies will focus on figuring out how to use this technology and grow and expand. And the last is to innovate and disrupt. The access and ease of creating content will encourage companies to experiment more,” Gupta remarked.
He pointed out that AI’s role in advertising is already visible, particularly with giants like Facebook and Google automating ad creation. “‘The Facebooks’ and ‘the Googles’ of the world are already automating the process wherein one gives the goal, target audience and budget, and it will automatically create millions of ads, see which one works better, and allocate the money,” he explained.
Enhancing Consumer Insights
Prof. Gupta highlighted AI’s ability to deliver deep consumer insights by synthesizing vast amounts of data.
“There is so much data about consumers now. It’s not only what they buy and search for, it’s what they do on social media or why they make a call to the call center. It’s not easy to put together the qualitative and quantitative data and get a 360-degree view. But with AI, it can be done,” he said.
He further explained how synthetic consumers—AI-generated personas based on existing data—are being used to conduct market research during product development. “We can create synthetic personas based on the past data that we have, and at least initially, one can get very quick ideas even before the launch of a product,” he added.
Challenges and Concerns
While optimistic about AI’s potential, Prof. Gupta raised concerns about its impact on the industry.
- Increased Competition: “The use of AI will increase competition because a lot more people will come in as anybody would be able to do it.”
- Short-Term Focus: “With AI experimentation and seeing different permutations and combinations, companies will be able to fine-tune the ROI component faster. If one can measure it and do it more accurately, there will be a tendency to put more dollars towards that. The potentially damaging effect that this will have on brands would be that they will get sucked more into the short term rather than building brands. And advertising is all about building brands.”
He also noted that while AI automates tasks, it does not reduce workloads. “No technology has reduced our workload. The same was said about computers, mobile phones, and social media. It hasn’t happened and it’s not going to happen,” he stated.
AI in the Workplace
To harness AI’s benefits, Prof. Gupta recommended a proactive approach for organizations and individuals:
- Embrace AI: “The first thing that all of us have to do, whether we are an entry-level person or a CEO, is to embrace AI. You can’t learn to swim by sitting on the side of the pool or by watching somebody else swim. You have to jump in the pool yourself.”
- Understand the Technology: He urged leaders to spend time learning both the advantages and limitations of AI to make informed decisions.
- Focus on Value-Added Tasks: “Every job has multiple tasks. Some tasks, which one calls the non-value-added components, will go away. We will spend more time on value-added tasks.”
As the session concluded, Prof. Gupta cautioned against becoming overly enamored with technology without understanding the problem it seeks to solve. He also emphasized the importance of protecting intellectual property and data, stating, “All the tech companies are here to grab your data because that’s the only thing that powers the technology.”
The event closed with remarks from Abhishek Karnani, President of the IAA India Chapter, who shared the organization’s vision for the year. “At the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA), we take pride in being the only body in the industry that brings together creative agencies, media agencies, and media under one roof. This year, our focus is clear—Conversations, Skilling, and Artificial Intelligence—all aimed at preparing us for the opportunities and challenges ahead.”
Organized in association with Harvard Business School, with Free Press Journal as the Presenting Partner, the session provided valuable insights into the evolving dynamics of marketing in the AI era. Prof. Gupta’s thought-provoking discussion offered a roadmap for businesses navigating this transformative technology.
