On a pitch night in a Mumbai agency today, the first visual draft pinned on the wall is as likely to have been generated by an algorithm as by a junior art director. Instead of spending hours collecting images from Pinterest or Instagram, teams now type prompts into AI tools like Midjourney, Adobe Firefly or Runway and receive dozens of visual possibilities within minutes.
What started as experimental tinkering has quickly become a structural shift in how designers, brand teams, fashion houses and agencies begin their creative process. AI moodboards are no longer an optional shortcut. They are becoming the default first layer of inspiration in studios across India and around the world.
AI moodboards move from novelty to necessity
Modern moodboarding tools powered by AI can turn a simple text description into a full visual theme, complete with images, textures, colors and layout ideas. This automation replaces what used to be hours of scrolling and clipping. In global surveys this year, an overwhelming majority of creative professionals reported using AI tools to speed up ideation, and most say they now consider generative AI a core part of their workflow.
In India, adoption has been particularly rapid. Many designers say they rely on AI moodboards to produce 50 or more visual variations before settling on a direction. Instead of handpicking references from scratch, teams are using AI to explore entire visual universes instantly, then curating what feels most relevant to their brief.
What Indian agency leaders say about AI’s role
Agency leaders in India describe AI’s influence in straightforward terms.
“AI is like a creative spark plug for advertising. It is transforming how agencies are brainstorming, analysing trends and personalising content,” says Sanjeev Jasani, Chief Operating Officer, Cheil India. He explains that teams now begin with AI generated boards before narrowing in on the strongest directions.
Rajneesh Boila, Executive Vice President and Head of Creative Tech and Innovation at Ogilvy India, calls AI “a game changer for creative advertising, globally and in India” and “a turbocharger for creativity.” In his view, the technology removes repetitive work and boosts creative agility. “AI enhances, not replaces,” he says, noting that its value lies in speeding up the early stages while leaving the emotional storytelling to people.
At the fashion end of the spectrum, designer Rahul Mishra has described how he feeds images of his past collections into an AI model to explore fresh silhouettes and palettes. “I use AI to come up with a new collection based on my previous work,” he says. He notes that the outputs push him toward “less predictable outcomes,” although the final pieces are still crafted through human effort and traditional techniques.
In the insurance sector, Anand Roy, Managing Director of Star Health Insurance, points to similar benefits. “By combining human insight with AI enabled storytelling, we are speaking directly to the next generation of Indian consumers,” he said while announcing a recent AI assisted campaign. His team used AI tools to visualize scenes and moodboards for films before refining them into final production.
These leaders represent a broader consensus across India’s creative ecosystem: AI is becoming an indispensable second hand in the studio, particularly during the brainstorming and conceptualization stages.
How AI moodboards are shaping creative work across industries
Advertising and Branding:
AI moodboards help agencies test multiple campaign territories before presenting options to clients. Instead of one or two moodboard routes, teams can generate ten or more directions in the same amount of time. This allows for richer exploration of tone, lighting, character style and visual metaphors.
Fashion and Beauty:
Designers use moodboards generated through AI to experiment with patterns, silhouettes and fabric interpretations. A fashion label working on an upcoming collection can instantly visualize 20 completely different looks based on a single theme.
Interior and Spatial Design:
Studios are feeding rough reference boards into AI tools to create polished mock ups of living rooms, stores or office spaces. These renderings help clients make decisions earlier in the process.
Tech and Retail Brands:
In-house brand teams use AI moodboards to explore seasonal visual directions, festive themes or new interface aesthetics for apps and websites. This reduces dependency on long physical shoots during early planning.
Independent Creators and Startups:
Small teams with limited budgets are using AI moodboards to pitch ideas to clients, generate quick prototypes and test brand identities. What used to require a full design team is now accessible to solo entrepreneurs.
The benefits: speed, variety and creative expansion
The creative value of AI moodboards often lies in two factors: speed and surprise.
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Speed: What took a full day can now be done in under an hour.
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Variety: AI can generate a wide range of directions, some far outside the team’s usual visual vocabulary.
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Overcoming creative blocks: AI provides unexpected combinations of colours, shapes and emotions that can nudge teams out of predictable territory.
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Better pre-production: AI boards help clients visualise ideas earlier, reducing misalignment later in the process.
As one Mumbai creative director put it, “AI gives us the clay, but we still shape the statue.”
Guardrails and lessons from the Zomato episode
The rapid adoption of AI moodboards has also brought important cautionary lessons. Earlier this year, Zomato publicly discouraged restaurants from using AI generated food images on the app after customers complained that dishes in real life looked nothing like the visuals.
“AI generated food images are misleading and result in a breach of trust,” said Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, while implementing the new policy.
For agencies and brands, the message is clear: AI visuals are powerful for internal inspiration but can damage credibility if used unfiltered in consumer facing communication. Many teams now explicitly separate “AI moodboards” from “final artwork,” ensuring the machine stays in the exploration stage unless a real world equivalent can match the visual promise.
The creative limits and the human layer
Despite widespread enthusiasm, creative leaders in India still emphasise the irreplaceable human judgement required in final decisions.
Common concerns include:
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Whether AI generated inspirations might make brands feel visually similar
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Whether abundant AI content risks flattening cultural nuance
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Whether young creatives may become overly dependent on machine outputs
Several agencies have already introduced internal guidelines on responsible AI use, including rules on originality, bias checks and intellectual property sensitivities.
A future of co-creation
As generative tools evolve, AI moodboards are on track to become a daily companion in studios. Teams are hiring prompt specialists, retraining designers to work with AI and building new processes around faster iteration cycles.
Yet even with this shift, the direction is not towards automation but towards co-creation. AI is the partner that expands the canvas. Humans are the ones who choose the story.
The most compelling work in the coming years is likely to come from teams that can master this balance:
AI for breadth, humans for depth.
AI for speed, humans for meaning.
AI for possibilities, humans for the final voice.
For now, the moodboard has changed, but the muse has not. The inspiration may come from a machine, but the decision about what truly resonates remains entirely human.
Disclaimer: All data points and statistics are attributed to published research studies and verified market research. All quotes are either sourced directly or attributed to public statements.