As India’s digital economy grows at an unprecedented pace, marketers are rethinking their approach to technology. The conversation has moved beyond “which tool” to “what experience” — and in this rapidly evolving space, MarTech stacks are no longer static. Instead, they’re dynamic ecosystems being continuously refined, automated, and tailored to an increasingly discerning consumer.

This new era of MarTech is marked by three overlapping themes: the pivot to conversational journeys, the rise of custom-built telemetry, and a growing focus on agility and experimentation. Together, they’re reshaping how Indian marketers — across travel, cybersecurity, SaaS, and beyond — design their tech stacks.

The Rise of Conversational Journeys

One of the most visible shifts in India’s MarTech landscape is the move away from traditional email and static web interactions. Marketers are embracing platforms that mimic the fluidity and immediacy of real-world conversations — nowhere more so than in the growing embrace of WhatsApp.

“Email is becoming less and less effective,” says Abraham Alapatt, President and Group Head of Marketing at Thomas Cook India. “The filters are tighter, inbox delivery rates are dropping, and people simply don’t respond to email the way they used to.”

For Thomas Cook, WhatsApp isn’t just another channel — it’s the foundation for reimagining how they engage consumers. The company has built WhatsApp journeys that help prospects and customers navigate everything from holiday bookings to forex enquiries. These journeys aren’t static scripts; they’re designed to feel like a conversation, blending AI-powered recommendations with real-time responsiveness.

This pivot is emblematic of a larger trend: as consumers grow used to messaging-first interactions in their personal lives, they expect the same seamlessness in their brand engagements. Marketers are responding by embedding messaging platforms into the very heart of their stacks.

Automation Beyond the Obvious: Chatbots with a Brain

To support these conversational journeys, marketers are investing in AI-powered chatbots that go far beyond basic FAQs.

At Thomas Cook, two bots — Tacy and Ezy — act as digital travel assistants rather than mere support agents. “They can recommend destinations, build itineraries based on budgets and duration, assist with visa information, and even provide weather updates,” Alapatt explains. “We’re not just using them to deflect queries; we’re using them to enhance the planning experience.”

The next frontier, he says, is multilingual and voice-enabled interactions. As chatbots evolve, they’re becoming an extension of the brand voice, able to guide, recommend, and even inspire — all without human intervention. It’s a far cry from the clunky, scripted bots of just a few years ago.

A Shift in Metrics: The Need for Granular, Real-Time Data

If conversational journeys are the new front-end, the backend story is about data — and a profound shift in how marketers are collecting and interpreting it.

At Quick Heal Technologies, Chief Marketing Officer Sudhanshu Tripathi says his team’s MarTech approach has fundamentally changed. While off-the-shelf tools like Google Analytics and Search Console remain indispensable for basic metrics, they no longer provide the granularity modern marketing demands.

“We’re focusing on building in-house telemetry,” Tripathi explains. “It’s about understanding exactly where users engage, where they drop off, what features they’re using, and how that maps to conversion.”

Why the move away from broad-strokes platforms like ZOHO Marketing Automation? “Email delivery rates were terrible, and it couldn’t integrate with platforms like WhatsApp,” he says. “In our business, where timely, multi-channel engagement is critical, it just didn’t scale.”

This desire for real-time behavioral insight reflects a wider trend: as cookie-based tracking faces regulatory and technological hurdles, first-party data — and how brands collect it — has become a strategic advantage.

Automation and Experimentation at the Core

For another brand, the conversation isn’t about replacing their MarTech stack entirely — it’s about making it more agile.

“Google Tag Manager is essential for us,” says a MarTech Lead, on anonymity. “It lets us deploy and manage marketing and analytics tags seamlessly, which ensures operational speed and data accuracy.”

Beyond that, their company uses Optimizely Experimentation to continuously test, tweak, and improve conversion rates. “We treat experimentation as a core part of our marketing operations.”

Interestingly, even as they invest in advanced tools, this brand recently dropped On24 for virtual events. The reason? “Consistent stakeholder feedback about user experience.” This underscores another key point: if a tool doesn’t serve the user, it doesn’t stay.

Beyond the Tools: A Mindset Shift

Taken together, these stories point to a broader transformation in Indian marketing: the shift from tools to systems, and from systems to mindsets.

For decades, marketers measured MarTech maturity by the size of their toolkits. Today, leaders are rethinking that metric — favoring adaptability, user experience, and data intelligence over feature lists.

These conversations highlight a few shared beliefs:

• User-centricity first: Tools that don’t prioritize the end user’s experience are quickly phased out, no matter how robust their feature sets.
• Contextual intelligence matters: Rather than relying on generic data dashboards, brands are investing in telemetry that’s tied to their own customer journeys.
• Conversational experiences are here to stay: Messaging platforms like WhatsApp are no longer “nice to have.” They’re central to building loyalty and relevance.
• Agility trumps perfection: As consumer behaviors evolve, so too must MarTech stacks — often in real-time.

The Road Ahead: Personalization and Privacy

As India’s marketers re-architect their stacks around these themes, two imperatives loom large: personalization at scale and privacy-first design.

On one hand, the rise of AI and behavioral telemetry enables brands to tailor messaging and experiences to an almost individual level. On the other, growing scrutiny around data usage means marketers must embed privacy and transparency into every aspect of their stack.

Balancing these priorities is the next great challenge. As Alapatt puts it: “We believe these bots will enhance both productivity and customer experience — but that only works if the data is relevant, secure, and used ethically.”

Conclusion: Stacks as Living Systems

In the end, what’s unfolding in India’s MarTech landscape isn’t just an upgrade of tools — it’s a paradigm shift. Brands are no longer passive users of technology; they’re active architects, building ecosystems that evolve alongside their consumers.

The marketers leading this charge aren’t afraid to drop what doesn’t work or build what doesn’t exist. They see MarTech not as a fixed asset, but as a living system, constantly refined and realigned with each new consumer insight.

As India’s digital economy continues to expand, these living systems — built on conversational experiences, granular data, and relentless experimentation — will likely define which brands thrive, and which are left behind.

For the modern marketer, the message is clear: the stack is never done. It’s always in motion — just like the consumers it serves.