Published on: May 19, 2026
Ten years ago, the Indian digital landscape was just finding its feet; today, it is a sophisticated ecosystem of streaming, shopping, and agentic AI. For Kapil Sharma, Director at Amazon Ads, these ten years have been defined by one thing: constant reinvention. A tenured leader with nearly two decades of experience across engineering, consulting, and advertising, Kapil was a foundational member of the core team that built Amazon Ads in India. He is a deeply strategic thinker who sees technology not as a replacement for the human spark, but as the engine that removes the “messy” technical friction of the job.
In this special 10th-anniversary interview, Kapil reflects on the shift from simple search to full-funnel storytelling, explaining how AI is finally giving every seller the time and the tools to find their own “human magic.”
Amazon Ads is celebrating a decade in India. Looking back, what has been the single biggest shift in how Indian sellers have moved from simple search ads to complex, full-funnel marketing?
For Amazon Ads, the last decade has been defined by constant reinvention; it has always been guided by what our customers and advertisers actually need. When we started ten years back, we focused on relatively simple solutions like Sponsored Products to help brands drive visibility within the Amazon store. But as consumer behavior evolved, it became clear that discovery and decision-making were no longer happening in just one place; they were happening across streaming, shopping, browsing, and entertainment environments.
Over time, Amazon Ads has evolved into a full-funnel advertising solution that helps brands connect awareness, consideration, and conversion in a unified way. Today, we work with businesses of all sizes, whether it is large enterprises building brands at scale, emerging digital-first labels, or even brands that don’t sell on Amazon at all.
“We have moved from being a channel for advertising to becoming a solution for business outcomes, helping brands not just reach audiences, but grow in a measurable way.”
The thing is, we are no longer just a place to run ads. We are a partner in driving real business growth, ensuring that every touchpoint in the customer journey is connected and impactful.
High-quality creative has always been a barrier for SMBs. How does the new Creative Agent use AI to help a small seller turn a simple product link into a professional-grade brand film?
Creative production has traditionally been one of the biggest constraints in advertising; it requires time, budget, and specialized skills that many SMBs simply don’t have access to. Our vision at Amazon Ads is to democratize video advertising for advertisers of all sizes. With that in mind, Creative Agent has been designed to remove the barriers advertisers face and simplify the entire process of designing.
Creative Agent works as a conversational AI creative partner that guides advertisers through the ad creation process. Through a guided chat interface, advertisers can brainstorm ad campaign concepts, write scripts for multi-scene videos, and generate images; they can animate scenes, create voiceovers, add music, and build end cards all within a single, streamlined workflow. The experience is designed to be intuitive for users, with Creative Agent asking questions and recommending next steps throughout the process.
“What previously took weeks of coordination across teams can now be done in hours, without requiring design expertise.”
Advertisers maintain control throughout the creative process and can direct how Creative Agent iterates on their inputs; this includes editing scripts, tone, format, and campaign goals. This effectively democratizes high-quality creative, enabling SMBs to participate in premium formats like video and streaming TV and tell richer brand stories at scale.
You are introducing an AI Ads Agent to help manage campaigns. How will this conversational tool change the daily routine for an advertiser who isn’t a data expert?
Ads Agent is an always-on, AI companion that simplifies how brands can plan, launch, and optimize campaigns on Amazon Ads; it automates time-intensive tasks to boost efficiency and shares insight-driven recommendations to improve performance. It combines agentic AI capabilities with Amazon’s first-party insights to perform complex advertising tasks through a conversational experience. For instance, it can help brands create and optimize campaigns at scale; a brand can simply upload a custom media plan and let Ads Agent build the campaign structure and ad groups.
It also helps efficiently reach relevant audiences at scale using intelligent targeting recommendations for Amazon DSP campaigns. The Agent reviews thousands of audience segments to recommend the most relevant keywords for your campaign.
“Whether managing a few campaigns or hundreds, advertisers can work smarter with the help of Ads Agent and save valuable time to reinvest where it matters most to their advertising goals.”
Ads Agent reimagines the advertising experience by unlocking new levels of efficiency. It allows advertisers—even those who aren’t data experts—to focus on the strategy while the AI handles the complex execution.
How is Amazon making it easier for brands to reach customers beyond just the search bar—like on Prime Video or Fire TV?
We are focused on developing full-funnel advertising solutions that connect awareness, consideration, and conversion tactics into a cohesive strategy; more importantly, we want to directly measure and optimize at every step. The focus is on outcomes, not complexity; this lets advertisers concentrate on strategy rather than managing fragmented tools and workflows. With metrics like impressions, clicks, and new customers, Amazon Ads helps businesses understand their campaigns and develop an informed, effective strategy.
Our video streaming service, Prime Video, is redefining advertising by merging premium content with commerce-driven innovation. With a diverse selection of award-winning content ranging from blockbuster originals to snackable micro-dramas, brands can engage audiences across both lean-back and on-the-go viewing moments.
“The focus is on outcomes, not complexity, letting advertisers concentrate on strategy rather than managing fragmented tools and workflows.”
The recently announced Amazon Ads Creators Program connects advertisers with a network of over 5,00,000 creators to deliver measurable campaigns; brands can run social media campaigns from this single interface with end-to-end support, from creator discovery through to performance reporting. It offers full-funnel attribution, allowing brands to understand the complete customer journey from a creator’s content view all the way to a purchase on Amazon.in.
Amazon Ads has grown from helping brands reach customers to building connections through the entire consumer journey. Today, we reach customers wherever they shop, stream, and spend time online
A key theme for this anniversary is ‘scaling through AI.’ How specifically can an SMB seller use these new AI tools to optimize their ad spend and compete with much larger brands?
Amazon Ads is developing AI tools that make the advertising experience simpler while driving more results. We focused initially on creative-building AI innovations to simplify the experience for small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon. This enabled them to build ad creative in a way that simply wasn’t possible before. In India, we introduced Creative Studio, Video Generator, and now Creative Agent; each represents a significant leap forward in breaking down barriers for advertisers of all sizes.
Our latest tool, Creative Agent, works like a creative director. It enables advertisers to quickly generate high-quality, multi-format ads without the need for large resources or budgets; it leverages Amazon’s trillions of first-party shopping, browsing, and streaming signals to understand audience habits and design relevant creatives.
“This tool levels the playing field in a way we have never seen before and helps brands achieve their business goals.”
We believe every advertiser deserves access to professional creatives. For instance, the healthcare brand Frido was able to launch a Streaming TV campaign faster than ever because of Creative Agent; they saw immediate results, with a 40% higher CTR than usual. This tool enhances human capabilities, allowing advertisers to be limitless in their creativity and possibilities.
As you look toward the next decade, how will ‘Agentic AI’ redefine the relationship between Amazon Ads and the sellers who use the platform every day?
As AI continues to evolve, so will Amazon Ads creative solutions.
“Our goal across Amazon Ads is to simplify the advertising process and allow advertisers of all sizes to reach their audiences with compelling ads that resonate and drive results.”
We have been rolling out tools that break down barriers and create efficiencies for advertisers; Creative Agent and Ads Agent are examples of that commitment to our sellers. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation to benefit both advertisers and shoppers at every step.
What we’ve done up till now is the start; there is a long and exciting way forward.
