As India’s creator economy rapidly expands, driven by the fusion of marketing and technology, brands and influencers alike are navigating a shifting landscape where data science, artificial intelligence, and storytelling converge. This was the focus of exchange4media’s third edition of its MarTech Thursday webinar series, titled "Modern Marketers, Modern Influence: Navigating the New Rules of Engagement."

The session featured a panel of industry leaders: Kalyan Kumar, CEO of Klug Klug; Dr. Sanjay Arora, influencer and CEO of Shells Advertising Inc.; and Rishi Jain, LinkedIn Top Voice and CEO of Digital Scholar. Moderated by Brij Pahwa, Editorial Lead at e4m, the discussion explored how AI is not only accelerating marketing outcomes but also reshaping influence and trust.

Setting the tone for the conversation, Dr. Arora described his entry into the world of influencing as unplanned. “I’m an influencer by accident, not by choice,” he said, explaining how his daughter persuaded him to begin posting educational content on Instagram after decades of teaching brand consulting and marketing at business schools. What began as an experiment quickly gathered momentum, leading to a follower base of over 500,000 within a year and a half.

Today’s influencer, Arora stressed, has access to “superpowers” in the form of MarTech tools. “Earlier, you faced the camera and left the rest to the editor. Now, right from researching topics to generating creative hooks, tools can handle 60 to 70 percent of the work,” he said. However, he was quick to add that while technology amplifies, it does not replace creativity. “You could give a Ferrari to ten different people. Not everyone will become number one. The driver still counts.”

Rishi Jain offered a contrasting journey—one of deliberate digital acceleration. Running an agency and a digital institute, Jain knew he needed to embody the digital-first approach he was teaching. Initially growing his LinkedIn presence slowly, he shared how the integration of AI tools helped him scale dramatically. “Last month alone, I moved from 25,000 to almost 75,000 followers—purely through automation,” Jain said.

He explained how his workflow now uses tools like ChatGPT for research and scripting, Agent for video avatar creation, and 11Labs for voice replication. “You can literally send a message on WhatsApp—‘make a video on MarTech 2026’—and AI tools will research, create, edit, and deliver it back to you,” he said, highlighting the efficiency AI brings to modern content creation. Jain emphasized that connecting these tools into intelligent agents would be the next big leap for marketers.

While technology is providing incredible leverage, Kalyan Kumar focused attention on the underbelly of India’s booming influencer economy, now valued at ₹2,500 crore according to recent reports. Kumar revealed that despite its growth, the industry is grappling with major authenticity issues.

“Two out of three influencers have more than 50 percent inactive or fake followers,” Kumar pointed out. Moreover, he highlighted what he termed the “great gender mismatch tragedy” in influencer marketing. “About 84 percent of female beauty influencers have 70 to 80 percent male followers. No surprise when you realize Instagram’s user base is predominantly male in India,” he said.

Brands, Kumar argued, can no longer afford to simply chase high follower counts and engagement rates. Instead, MarTech platforms like ours is enabling brands to profile real audiences—filtering by gender, geography, and behavioral interests—and making sure marketing spend is reaching the right people.

“Imagine being able to science the creative, and science the basics of audiences,” he said. He also disclosed that India is now the world’s largest consumer and generator of fake followers, surpassing countries like Russia, Brazil, and Indonesia.

Despite advances in data analytics, the panel agreed that marketing success remains as much an art as it is science. Arora shared candidly that even after creating over 700 marketing story reels, he still finds audience reactions unpredictable. “Sometimes the stories I think will do really well perform average, and simple ones blow up. Like a quick story I did on Coke’s solar-powered fridges—it crossed a lakh views in a day," he recalled.

Kumar noted that brands often make the mistake of aiming for viral hits rather than consistent, science-backed performance. “Instead of chasing virality, focus on ensuring your campaigns don’t fail. That’s where technology can help.”

When it came to legacy brands embracing MarTech and influencer storytelling, the panel was unanimous: the time for persuasion is over. “No convincing is needed anymore. If they’re not adapting, they’re committing brand suicide,” said Arora bluntly.

Jain, reflecting on his own client experiences, explained how traditional brands still struggle to adapt their TV advertising mindsets to digital realities. “On TV, you don’t have a thumb to swipe away the ad. On mobile, you do. If you don’t capture attention within three seconds, the viewer is gone.”

Kumar suggested that the most effective way to accelerate adoption among traditional brands is through competitive pressure. “Show them that five of their top competitors are already doing it better. Share of voice is the trigger that legacy brands still care about.”

The session drew an impressive live audience, including senior marketing and communications leaders from companies such as Vivo, SBI Card, Woodland, Pidilite, Reliance Retail, and Wellspun. The caliber of the audience reflected the increasing strategic importance MarTech holds across industries today.

Closing the discussion, Pahwa summed up the new reality for marketers: “Influence is a trust game. MarTech, when used right, helps scale that trust.”

With India’s influencer marketing economy projected to continue growing at 25 percent annually, and AI-led content automation becoming mainstream, brands that combine data-driven precision with authentic storytelling will be the ones shaping the next era of marketing.