How Artificial Intelligence is Quietly Aiding the Transformation of the Future of Indian Brands

For a long time, Indian brands wore their “human touch” like a badge of honour. Personal recommendations, founder-led intuition, and community trust were seen as strengths that technology could never replace. Artificial intelligence, when it entered the conversation, was often viewed with suspicion—useful for spreadsheets and backend analytics, but risky when placed close to the consumer.

That perception is changing rapidly. Across sectors, Indian brands are no longer asking whether to use AI. Instead, they are figuring out how deeply it should shape their decisions, operations, and consumer experiences. From beauty and wellness to logistics and finance, AI is moving from the background into the very core of how brands function.

From Support Tool to Strategic Partner

Jui Bhansali, Founder of beauty-tech platform Smudg, has seen this shift unfold closely. “For a long time, technology was seen as something that could dilute the experience. But over the last few years, brands have started recognising that AI can actually bring efficiencies in how brands make products, market needs, manage operations, and engage with consumers in much more relevant micro-moments.”

Earlier, AI was largely restricted to backend functions like analytics or supply chain optimisation. “What has changed is that AI is now moving into direct consumer interaction—from recommendation engines to diagnostic tools and conversational interfaces."

This evolution is also changing how founders make decisions. “Earlier, many decisions were largely intuition-led. Today, founders are increasingly blending intuition with AI-led consumer intelligence,” she adds.

Aksheshkumar Ajaykumar Shah, Founder and CEO of Cogniify.ai, describes this transition more sharply. “We’ve witnessed a massive shift from AI as an experiment to AI as an industrial rail. Today, Indian CEOs view AI as a foundational execution layer. The question is no longer ‘What can AI do?’ but ‘How fast can AI execute my strategy?’”

Personalisation That Goes Beyond Recommendations

One of the most visible impacts of AI is in personalisation, but both founders agree that true personalisation goes much deeper than product suggestions.

In beauty, Bhansali explains, “Personalisation is often misunderstood as just recommending a product. Real personalisation is about understanding the full context of a consumer—their skin type, concerns, climate, routines, lifestyle, and how their needs evolve over time.”

Tools like Smudg, she says, help structure this understanding. “Instead of relying only on transactional signals like purchases or clicks, we help brands build a complete customer profile and show recommendations along with the ‘why’ behind them.” This, she believes, turns personalisation into decision intelligence.

For consumers, this reduces confusion. “They’re not shown random products. They’re guided toward solutions that are relevant to their concerns, which makes decision-making faster and more confident,” Bhansali notes.

Shah sees a similar shift across industries. “Automation is just the entry stake now,” he says. “The real frontier is agentic autonomy.” According to him, brands are moving toward “hyper-local individualisation,” where AI systems respond to real-time signals like weather, local demand, or social sentiment. “We’ve replaced spreadsheet guesswork with simulation twins, where leaders run thousands of ‘what-if’ scenarios before spending a single rupee,” he adds.

Why Responsible AI Is No Longer Optional

As AI moves closer to consumers, responsibility becomes critical. Bhansali believes responsible AI starts with transparency. “Consumers should clearly understand what is AI-driven and what is expert advice, and what data is being used,” she says.

Data privacy is especially sensitive in beauty and wellness. “Brands work with highly personal data like skin concerns and preferences. They have a responsibility to collect it responsibly, store it safely, and use it ethically,” she explains. Inclusivity is another key concern. “India has diverse skin tones, climates, and cultural practices. AI systems need to reflect that diversity.”

Shah takes a structural view. “In India, responsible AI is a revenue driver, not just a compliance checkbox,” he says. “A biased algorithm can alienate millions instantly.” For Cogniify, responsibility means “traceability by design,” where every AI-led decision comes with a clear, human-readable reason. “Trust is the only currency that allows brands to collect the quality data AI needs,” he adds.

Who’s Leading—and Who’s Lagging

Both founders point to BFSI as a fast adopter. “Banking and financial services have always been data-driven,” Bhansali says. Healthcare and manufacturing are also seeing strong adoption. However, sectors like beauty, wellness, agriculture, and education are still catching up. “These industries rely heavily on emotional trust, expertise, and cultural nuance,” Bhansali explains. “That makes AI adoption more complex—but also a big opportunity.”

Shah agrees. “Logistics and BFSI are leading because complexity forced adoption,” he says. “Healthcare and agriculture sit on mountains of data but need secure, unified infrastructure to become insight-driven.” Shah puts it simply: “Use AI to be efficiently invisible.” He advises brands to let AI handle “robotic tasks” like inventory and logistics, while people focus on “craft, community, and storytelling.” “A brand loses its identity when it uses AI to generate its soul,” he says. “It wins when AI lets the soul shine through faster.”

The Road Ahead for Indian Brands

Looking forward, both founders see AI as a major competitive lever. “Most brands still act on surface signals like clicks,” Bhansali says. “AI will help them understand intent and evolving needs in real time.” This, she believes, will reduce wastage, improve innovation, and increase customer stickiness.

Shah calls this India’s leapfrog moment. “Competitiveness will be about data velocity, not budget size,” he says. “Indian brands will compete globally because they’ll have faster decision cycles and lower overheads.”

As AI quietly embeds itself into everyday decision-making, one thing is clear: for Indian brands, the future isn’t about choosing between technology and humanity. It’s about using AI to understand people better—and serving them with greater clarity, empathy, and intent.