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2026: The Year Of...: When AI will quietly rewrite discovery, commerce and creativity, says Harsha Razdan of dentsu
After a year of steady alignment and double-digit growth, Harsha Razdan - CEO, South Asia, dentsu says 2026 will be defined by AI-shaped consumer journeys, gaming and retail media momentum, and brands embedding themselves into everyday choices across Bharat and beyond.
"In 2025, we maintained strong double-digit growth. Marquee media wins contributed roughly ₹500–600 crore in YTD billings," shared Razdan.
If 2025 was about putting the building blocks in place, 2026 will be about how intelligently brands use them. For Harsha Razdan, CEO of dentsu South Asia, the past year marked a phase of deliberate consolidation, bringing creative, media, CXM, data and technology together through a top-client model, strengthening dentsu’s innovation ecosystem, and deepening its footprint across Bharat.
That disciplined approach translated into strong double-digit growth, marquee media wins worth ₹500–600 crore in billings, and the addition of over 140 new clients.
Looking ahead, Razdan believes the next year will fundamentally change how brands participate in consumer journeys. AI, he says, is no longer just an efficiency lever but an invisible decision-making companion, helping consumers choose what to watch, buy and trust.
This shift will force brands to think beyond exposure and presence, and instead focus on how they appear inside AI-mediated discovery, commerce and content pathways. Production workflows will accelerate, localisation will scale faster, and the real differentiator will be human judgment, cultural intelligence and intent.
At the same time, 2026 will see gaming, live events and retail media emerge as core engines of engagement and conversion, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha. With non-metro India driving cultural and consumption momentum, and privacy-safe targeting frameworks reshaping planning, Razdan sees a future where growth comes from integration, of media and commerce, culture and technology, AI and creativity. For brands and agencies alike, the message is clear: the year ahead will reward those who embed themselves meaningfully into how India decides.
Edited excerpts:
What were the key achievements for you and your teams in 2025?
This year, I would say our progress was very intentional. We focused on strengthening our foundations, and many of those efforts have started showing real results.
The top-client model was a key step forward. By bringing creative, media, CXM, data, and technology together around the client, we worked with much greater unity. It helped us deepen several relationships and also bring in new ones.
We also strengthened our innovation ecosystem. Dentsu Lab India advanced significantly in AI-driven creativity and rapid prototyping. And platforms like the Dentsu Podcast Network, Dentsu AMP, and Dentsu Sports & Entertainment helped us connect brands to culture and communities in more relevant ways.
Our Dentsu Bharat initiative also advanced well. We expanded our presence in East India and emerging markets with deeper cultural understanding and stronger local leadership. This is a key part of our long-term growth plan in India.
The media practice continued its disciplined recovery. Integrated planning, performance, retail media, and AI tools gave clients more measurable and outcome-driven strategies. It improved both retention and new business.
From an operating standpoint, our integrated model also began to demonstrate its strength as One dentsu. When creativity, CXM, data, and technology worked together under Media++ and Innovating to Impact philosophy, the work became more culturally relevant and commercially effective. That was visible across the board.
In terms of performance, we maintained strong double-digit growth. Marquee media wins contributed roughly ₹500–600 crore in YTD billings.
And across Creative, Content, Social, SEO, Martech, and Experience Solutions, we saw strong momentum as well. We were pleased to welcome over 140 new clients this year - a sign of trust in our direction.
So, overall, 2025 was a year of steady alignment - teams moving together with clarity, with discipline, and with a focus on long-term client value. It gives us a strong base to continue building forward.
What defining trends stood out for you in 2025?
2025 was a year where India’s confidence really came through. Bharat drove a lot of the momentum - regional stories, local creators, folk influences - all finding a stronger place in mainstream culture. Tier 2 to Tier 4 towns adopted smart technology at a rapid pace, which shaped both consumption and content.
Consumers used AI very naturally in their daily choices. They compared prices, checked alternatives and read quick summaries without thinking twice. This quietly changed how discovery worked across categories.
Preventive health became a part of everyday life. Diagnostics, nutrition, wearables and home monitoring all saw wider adoption. Trust played a big role too. People looked for clarity in pricing, supply chains and sustainability before making decisions.
Finance grew steadily across banks, insurers, mutual funds and an energetic fintech ecosystem. Quick commerce moved up another gear, and auto had a solid year with rising incomes and more consumers warming up to EVs. The creator ecosystem matured meaningfully. Creators built communities, launched products, and scaled multilingual content. Many of the most exciting voices came from Bharat.
Short-form video held attention across non-metro India. Gaming continued its rapid rise. The focus shifted from sheer reach to the depth and quality of engagement. All of this pointed to a consumer who is more aware, more confident and far more deliberate in how they choose, and that direction was very clear for brands.
How did the rise of AI and generative AI impact the industry this year?
AI reshaped the industry this year by changing the scale at which we can think and operate. It moved the conversation beyond efficiency. Marketers in India began looking at AI as a pathway to new growth, new audiences, and new creative possibilities - not just quicker outputs.
At dentsu, we were very clear about how we wanted to approach it. We focused on ‘AI for Growth’. That meant using AI to accelerate strategy, insight, and creativity, not replace them. We pushed for systems that help brands learn faster, make sharper decisions, and enter the market with more confidence.
What became very obvious this year is that AI elevated the standard of work. When repetitive tasks disappear, the quality of judgment, cultural understanding, and problem-solving becomes the real differentiator. And that’s where our teams made the biggest leaps.
AI didn’t reduce the need for human capability. It demanded more of it - more clarity, more intent, and more ambition.
And in a market as fast-moving as India, that shift has already started to define who is moving ahead and who is falling behind.
What disruptive trends will take the spotlight in 2026?
I see a shift in how people make everyday choices. AI is slowly becoming part of that process, helping them decide what to watch, buy or pay attention to. That means brands have to think about how they show up inside those journeys. AI will also influence how content is made. A lot of production workflows - editing, localisation, creative exploration - will move faster with AI in the loop, and teams will start thinking differently about speed and scale.
Gaming, Live event & Retail media will pick up even more momentum. Our 2025 India Gaming Report shows that with over 16 crore pure-play gamers and esports becoming a mainstream social space for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, gaming has quickly become a major engine for discovery and engagement. Live events, too, are evolving into high-intent community platforms where culture, creators and commerce naturally meet. Real decision-making is increasingly shifting to grocery, beauty, electronics and online pharmacy platforms, which are now some of the most influential touchpoints in the journey.
We will also see simple immersive behaviours - AR try-ons or mixed-reality demos - become more visible in categories like auto and beauty. At the same time, the industry will have to work within new privacy-safe targeting frameworks that are already reshaping planning.
All of this will sit alongside India’s broader progress in AI, fintech, climate tech, renewable energy and digital health - shifts that are steadily changing how people experience brands in small but meaningful ways.
What is your New Year’s resolution on a professional and personal front?
On the professional front, my resolution is centred on our clients. We want to be a true growth partner to them - not just through individual services, but through integrated solutions that bring together retail, commerce, BX, sports and entertainment, video-first strategy and AI in a way that genuinely moves their business forward. Our commitment to ‘AI-for-Growth’ is a big part of that. I want to deepen it so that AI isn’t a concept we talk about, but a practical advantage clients can experience in the sharpness of our strategy, the speed of our execution and the outcomes we deliver.
The goal is to take our AI ambition from ‘promising’ to ‘proven’, and to build capability across the organisation so every client feels that shift in a tangible way.
Personally, I keep telling my teams to prioritise balance, take breaks and switch off - and they gently remind me that I don’t always do that myself. So, I’m trying again this year. I want to spend more time with the people I care about, and to do it with a little more intention. Hopefully this is the year I get better at it.
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