India to lead next wave of digital measurement, AI innovation and media growth: Nielsen’s Russ Soper
Chief Information Officer Russ Soper says India will drive a larger share of the global media market by 2026, powered by digital-first consumption, hybrid measurement models, and major investments in cloud, AI and data infrastructure.
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India’s Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector is entering a defining moment, one that positions the country not just as a fast-growing consumer market but as a global measurement and technology hub. As streaming overtakes traditional TV in leading markets and cross-screen advertising becomes the world’s default, India’s scale, multilingual content ecosystem, and digital adoption are giving it outsized influence in shaping the next era of global media.
Nielsen’s global Chief Information Officer, Russ Soper, believes India is set to account for a significantly larger slice of the world’s media economy by 2026. With the industry projected to touch ₹4.3 lakh crore and digital viewing exploding across regions and languages, India is simultaneously becoming a demand centre and a talent centre.
Nielsen is strengthening this shift further with deep investments in hybrid measurement models, cloud-first infrastructure, and AI-supported analytics- technologies that are redefining how audiences are counted and how advertising is monetised worldwide.
From integrating big-data signals with panels, to running global cloud-first builds from its India Centers of Excellence, to creating an AI-governance model rooted in trust and transparency, Nielsen sees India as central to its global roadmap.
In this interview, Soper outlines how the company is modernising measurement, navigating AI ethics, scaling cloud adoption, and preparing for a future where India’s media ecosystem plays a far bigger global role than ever before.
Edited excerpts:
How do you assess India’s growing influence in the global media and entertainment economy, and by how much do you expect its share to expand by 2026?
India’s Media and Entertainment sector is emerging as one of the fastest-growing markets globally and is steadily increasing its weight in the international landscape. According to Industry estimates, the Indian E&M industry is projected to grow at 8.8% CAGR and reach ₹4,30,401 crore by 2026.
Looking ahead to 2026, India’s M&E sector is set to benefit from several converging trends. Digital and mobile-first consumption will continue to accelerate, in line with global shifts where streaming has already surpassed combined broadcast and cable usage in key markets, signalling the broader movement towards digital-first viewing. India will also see a surge in regional and vernacular content as platforms deepen their presence, while expanding capabilities in animation, VFX, dubbing and creative-tech will strengthen the country’s role as a global content-services hub.
Additionally, there is a rising demand for data-driven advertising, cross-platform measurement and integrated media planning trends highly relevant to India’s rapidly evolving digital ecosystem. Together, these shifts position India to grow its share of the global M&E market by 2026, supported by sophisticated measurement and monetisation tools that enable publishers, advertisers and platforms to capture this momentum.
Nielsen ONE promises a single, unified metric across TV, digital, and streaming. What is the biggest challenge in delivering truly deduplicated reach across all screens, and how close are you to solving it globally?
Nielsen ONE is the cross-platform measurement and analytics product suite from Nielsen that seeks to deliver a single, unified metric for reach and frequency across linear TV, connected TV (CTV), mobile, desktop and streaming platforms. The biggest challenge in delivering truly deduplicated reach across all screens lies in resolving identity across devices and platforms, integrating disparate datasets (e.g., panel data, big-data streams) and doing so in a privacy-compliant, statistically robust way.
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In India, Nielsen has taken concrete steps: for example, it announced deduplicated measurement of YouTube CTV advertising in India (across computer, mobile and CTV) via Nielsen ONE Ads.Nielsen is also positioning its India operations as a global innovation hub to help develop the measurement solutions needed for such complexity.
You have a new Big Data + Panel methodology that merges large-scale device data with traditional panels. What does this hybrid model mean for publishers, advertisers, and agencies?
The Big Data + Panel approach marries traditional representative panels (i.e., a statistically selected group of households/persons whose media-use behaviour is tracked) with large-scale device-level data (e.g., set-top boxes, smart TVs, return-path data) to produce measurement at scale, while retaining person-level estimates. For example, the global model combines panel measurement with device-data from 45 million households and 75 million devices.
For advertisers and agencies, Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel methodology delivers more reliable reach and frequency metrics by reducing duplication across devices and improving people-level visibility across platforms. We note that buy-side teams can plan, optimise and measure their campaigns with greater confidence. Even for publishers, the model strengthens monetisation by providing a more complete, deduplicated view of audience behaviour across linear, streaming and digital platforms.
Whether it’s meters, data infrastructure or ecosystem partnerships, what are Nielsen’s key priorities for expanding and modernising measurement capabilities in India by 2026?
As India’s media landscape becomes one of the world’s most complex and fast-evolving, Nielsen is doubling down on a 2026 strategy built around deep technology investments, modernised measurement models, and an innovation-first approach. The company recently committed ₹450 crore in partnership with the Maharashtra government to expand its tech and AI capabilities and accelerate hiring in machine learning, data science, and engineering. To modernise measurement, Nielsen is shifting beyond traditional panels to hybrid models that blend big data, OTT and smart TV signals, and cross-screen analytics, an approach essential for capturing India’s fragmented viewing behaviour, partnerships with platforms and ecosystem players remain central to expanding coverage across metros, non-metros, and emerging digital-first audiences.
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Overall, Nielsen’s 2026 roadmap is anchored in upgrading tech infrastructure, deploying next-generation measurement capabilities, and leveraging India’s scale and diversity to build globally relevant measurement solutions.
Nielsen has been vocal about becoming a cloud-first organisation. How would you explain the shift and in what ways is this transformation improving speed, reliability and security?
The cloud has provided a variety of utilities to help us scale effectively, cost-efficiently, and securely. We have fantastic partnerships with hyperscalers — AWS, Google, and Microsoft — industry leaders who have helped us bring new products to market quickly. The cloud gives us very quick access to scale and tooling that would be much more challenging to deploy on our own with on-premise data centers.
Being a cloud-first company has given us quick access to deploy, quick access to scale, and to industry-leading and cutting-edge security tools to make sure data and access are commercial-grade. The integrity and fidelity of our data is job number one. The cloud helps us do that.
Where do you stand today on your cloud-modernisation journey — both in India and globally, and how much of Nielsen’s tech stack has already transitioned?
India is a very big investment for Nielsen. We’ve made significant investments over the last couple of years, opening two Centers of Excellence — regional hubs in Mumbai and in Bangalore last month. We’re heavily investing in India from both a technology and talent perspective, and we’ve hired thousands of people here over the past two years.
Specifically regarding cloud, when we say cloud-first, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Everything we’re doing- processes, code development, product architecture, is cloud-first from day one. That’s how we build our products and operate. There will always be legacy products that might not be in the cloud yet; we have a privileged legacy in the industry. We’re on a modernization journey, migrating older technologies, addressing tech debt, improving security, reducing risk, a bit of all of the above.
How have investments in AI and machine learning grown in India, and what does the roadmap look like going forward?
While machine learning has been around for quite a while through various iterations, AI has become much more commonplace. What’s fundamentally different in the last two years is generative AI, generating new content and the shift to an AI-first culture.
There’s a generational divide: older people use AI as a Google replacement; younger professionals integrate it into their processes; the youngest use AI as the first step in solving any problem.
At Nielsen, we have three focus areas from an AI perspective:
● Raising general skills and fostering an AI-first culture. Hackathons with AWS, training, internal tools, events. ● Adopting and deploying tools — partnerships with AWS, Google, Databricks, and deploying general technology. ● Driving tangible business case ROI. We have a rigorous internal AI governance process that rationalizes business value, ensures security and data governance, and ensures every tool and process is fair, accurate, ethical, and unbiased.
As AI platforms face growing pushback from digital publishers over data use, consent and revenue-sharing, how do you view this widening tension? And how does Nielsen ensure its own AI models are built on responsible data provenance and ethical standards?
I’d say two things. There is hype around AI, but something AI does really well now is extracting business outcomes from disparate structured and unstructured data sources quickly. The long process of aggregating and normalizing data that used to take months can now be fast-tracked with well-trained models. That’s a huge advantage.
On the flip side, if models just scrape the internet or grab any accessible data, it puts major emphasis on data governance. At Nielsen, we use curated data sets -government census, private-sector cable-box data, highly curated data where provenance is clear. Data provenance is a key aspect of our governance.
So the positives: we can move much faster using diverse data sources. The caution: ensuring provenance and protection is absolutely paramount.
For founders building AI-enabled platforms, what are the foundational principles of a strong AI governance and trust framework?
The North Star must be trust. It has to instill trust internally and externally and be based on standards. For Nielsen, we are in the business of trust and data. When clients see a Nielsen number or process, I want them to know it was built on responsible, audited, accredited practices.
Data centres powering AI systems are often criticised for high energy consumption. How does Nielsen approach sustainability and environmental responsibility in its compute infrastructure?
That’s a healthy tension to have. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Power consumption for compute is only going to grow, especially with AI. I’m glad sustainability is receiving attention because it will drive innovation.
We focus heavily on sustainability with our internal data centers and with cloud partners AWS, Google, Microsoft, reviewing sustainability metrics regularly, renewable energy usage, etc. There are innovations like placing data centers where geothermal cooling exists or even underwater cooling. The demand will increase; we must be conscious.
AI-driven automation has led to workforce changes across industries. How is Nielsen navigating this shift, and what guidance would you offer employees preparing for an AI-driven future?
If you join the Navy, expect to see the ocean. If you’re in technology, expect transformation and change. That’s our job, drive innovation and change at pace. Be comfortable with change.
Second, manage your career proactively. Have a plan: where do you want to be in five years? What skills do you need? Technology has many paths- be proactive and lean into change.
With India rolling out the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, how do you view the evolution of global governance frameworks, and how does Nielsen align its operations with emerging regulations?
Governance around the world is still evolving. Some regions are ahead; others are getting up to speed. What’s important is awareness and participating constructively. One pillar of our governance framework is leveraging the latest industry recommendations. We actively incorporate regulations.
