Agentic Capabilities are Redefining How People Search, Discover, and Shop: Siddharth Shekhar, Google

“The search box is no longer just a container for simple text; it has completely transformed into an intelligent, multimodal, and conversational partner. We are moving from a world of simple keyword queries to a world of rich, conversational intent, where users leverage Google Search as a true partner in discovery and decision making,” said Siddharth Shekhar.

Speaking about the evolving role of artificial intelligence in marketing, Shekhar said that in the emerging agentic era, the marketing opportunity is shifting from search visibility to providing precise answers and context that enable AI agents to act on a consumer’s behalf, always with explicit permission.

“We are working with the industry to lay the foundation of agentic commerce with open standards like the Universal Commerce Protocol to help brands thrive and build deeper, more valuable customer relationships. As we see, agentic capabilities are redefining how people search, discover, and shop,” he added.

AI also remained a key focus during the conference’s discussions on the future of entertainment. At a session titled ‘The Producer’s Paybook: TV, OTT and What Comes Next’, Goldie Behl, Filmmaker & Founder, Rose Audio Visuals, said that AI is a tool that will enhance creativity and that human intelligence and AI will ultimately work together.

“AI is a tool that will enhance creativity. Ultimately, it will be human intelligence and AI working together. Human intelligence will always be driving storytelling,” Behl said.

Behl added that AI should be viewed as a creative tool rather than a replacement for writers, while highlighting the need for regulations around how AI learns from existing content and intellectual property rights.

He further noted that OTT has undergone its own evolution, with the next wave of opportunities emerging from brand-backed storytelling. “But, creators must understand and authentically communicate a brand's ethos,” he added.

The second day of Marketing Conclave 2026 witnessed participation from several industry experts, including Prashant Gutch, Head, Search & Shopping, Ads Marketing, Google; Poorva Bhatikar, Industry Head - Mobility, Google; Archit Goyal, Search & Performance Specialist, Google; Aviral Chandra, President Marketing, Shriram General Insurance; Pankaj Sharma, Chief Executive Officer & Director, MGID; Arpit Mankar, Senior Vice President – Head – NonBollywood, Shemaroo Entertainment; Somnath Mukherjee, Head of Programmatic and Performance Marketing, Reliance Retail, and Vinay Bhartia, Director - MEA & West Asia, Semrush.

The experts shared insights on the changing digital marketing landscape during the conference, which also featured an expo with participation from more than 30 leading marketing and technology companies. Over two days, the event witnessed a footfall of more than 2,000.

The partners of Marketing Conclave 2026 include Affinity Global Advertising, Consumr.ai, Connect Network, DoubleTick, Google, Helo.ai, mFilterIt, PubLive, Vonage, BC Web Wise, LS Digital, Truecaller, Semrush (An Adobe Company), ORIGIN8, Exotel, Shemaroo and many more.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is a not-for-profit industry body with more than 800 members, including Indian and multinational corporations, as well as start-ups. IAMAI has been instrumental in shaping India’s digital economy and advocates free and fair competition, along with progressive and enabling laws for businesses and consumers.

The organisation’s key areas of activity include public policy and advocacy, business-to-business conferences, research, promotion of start-ups, and promotion of consumer trust and safety, with the overarching objective of ensuring the progress of the internet and the digital economy