AdTech Today successfully hosted the first panel discussion of its premier event, Future Forward: Digital 2025, at the Taj Santacruz, focusing on the transformative topic, “Programmatic & Native Ads: Future Forward,” where industry leaders explored how evolving technologies like AI, programmatic delivery, and personalization are reshaping the advertising landscape. The discussion highlighted the blurring lines between physical and digital presence, creative storytelling, and the intelligent use of data signals.
Moderated by Sairam Ranganathan, Chief Digital Officer at Wavemaker India, the session opened with his perspective on the direction of media transformation:
“It is said, all media is going to become digital, and all digital is going to become programmatic—and all programmatic is going to get personalized.”
Suchi Jain, General Manager, Madison World, spoke on the effectiveness of programmatic in delivering contextual messages at scale.
“Programmatic helps at the right time, to the right user, in the right space with the right creativity—but now it is coming to life even more with this whole AI-driven wave.”
Ashok Shinde, Vice President – Media & Strategy, PivotRoots, elaborated on the evolving role of AI and its growing accessibility.
“AI has always been around, but now it’s democratized—accessible to everyone. It empowers smarter concept-setting by aligning brand requirements with the consumer’s state of mind.”
Dipika Parulekar, Associate Director & Head of Sector Marketing Americas, Wipro, highlighted the rise of programmatic in Digital OOH and how it integrates creativity and technology seamlessly.
“The rise of programmatic digital OOH reflects the larger shifts in how brands today are seamlessly blending the power of creativity and technology—meeting consumers where they are, both physically and digitally.”
Siddharth Dabhade, Chief Business Officer, Lemma, emphasized the synergy between traditional and digital media in today’s omnichannel environment.
“Every medium is going to get digitalized, and they are not competing with each other—they are complementing each other.”
Himanshu Khandelwal, AVP – Digital Sales, Axis Mutual Fund, grounded the discussion in marketing fundamentals.
“Basics will always remain the same—it’s all about where your customers are, and you have to be present there.”
The panel delved into how AI is shaping the future of programmatic personalization, the expanding role of digital signals and measurement, and how brands are innovating across formats including native and OOH. With examples across sectors, the speakers illustrated the rising convergence of tech and creativity, driven by real-time insights.
AdTech Today’s Future Forward: Digital 2025 continues to spotlight the ideas and innovations steering the advertising industry forward, offering a platform for experts to collaborate, inspire, and lead the way in a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.
