From Mumbai to Milan to Milwaukee, if I were to pick one term that has generated most interest in business meetings and boardrooms over the last couple of years, then it undoubtedly has to be artificial intelligence (AI)—and for good reason.
Across all sectors—from healthcare and education to commerce and manufacturing—AI and Generative AI are the new hubs of value creation with the potential to fuel opportunities and propel economic growth.
A joint study by Boston Consulting Group and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, found that successful adoption of AI could add up to 1.4 percentage points annually to the real GDP growth of India.
Specifically for businesses, successful adoption of AI could add ₹1.5-2.5 trillion in incremental profit for the top 500 Indian companies over a five-year period.
When businesses use AI-powered products, it delivers an even higher return on ad spend. It has been incredible to see large Indian brands such as Nykaa and Dream11 already use these tools as part of their advertising strategies.
Best of all, AI is not just used for advertising performance, measurement or targeting. Generative AI tools offer creative solutions as well. They can be deployed for innovation, enabling more value for how businesses market and engage with customers at scale.
Not every business has the luxury of easily creating entirely new content for advertising or marketing, but Generative AI tools that offer features such as image expansion, background generation and text generation are leveling the playing field, helping businesses of all kinds create high-quality variations of their advertising quickly at a low cost.
Meta’s research with Bain & Company revealed that more than 80% of the surveyed businesses in India plan to invest in Generative AI within the next two years and 60% of the surveyed large enterprises said they are planning to increase their spending on conversational journeys over the next 3-4 years.
We know the Indian market is well-suited for chatting with an AI chatbot. Since launching Meta AI, one of the world’s leading AI assistants, in India earlier this year, the country has already emerged as the largest market for this product in terms of usage.
Today, we’re testing Generative AI agents for businesses that can interact with customers in a more personalized and engaging way; like chatting with a friend, but in a brand’s own voice and style.
Eventually, we foresee a future where every business has its own Business AI agent, just as every formal enterprise has a website or email address today.
While these tools are very helpful, the human element is still needed to understand the context of customer relations, unlock the meaning behind data-sets and to bring effective ideas to life. AI helps businesses get there much faster and effectively.
As we think about this dynamic, we see potential for new jobs emerging for marketing professionals at each stage of this process. For example, more visual and copy editors will likely be needed to keep up with the rate at which AI produces content.
If the end goal of this Generative AI work is content that reflects a brand’s voice and tone, then we as an industry have to shape new partnerships where we train AI models on brand insights.
Earlier this year, we released a joint white paper with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), which surveyed small businesses to understand their adoption of AI. Small businesses indicated a strong belief in AI, but they also called out a lack of AI training programmes that would help make AI technologies more accessible.
As we head towards an AI-powered future, this vision needs industry-wide support to ensure that businesses, small and large, can harness its potential. The use of AI and Generative AI could be the most game-changing shift that advertisers make over the next decade.
Being a leader in this space today will set you up for success tomorrow, while creating some of the most innovative advertising and marketing in the industry—with the return on investment to match.
Nicola Mendelsohn is vice president, Global Business Group, Meta.
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