Goafest 2025: AI moves beyond tech to empower every team

Time of India

22-05-2025

HighlightsThe panel discussion on 'From Code To Commerce: Growth in the AI Age' showcased how Artificial Intelligence is transforming business operations, featuring insights from industry leaders like Arjun Choudhary, Vice President of Swiggy, and Tejas Apte, Head of Media and Digital Marketing at Hindustan Unilever. Pragya Bijalwan, Chief Marketing Officer at Voltas, highlighted AI's role in personalizing consumer experiences and driving predictive maintenance, emphasizing its impact on energy efficiency in India's cost-conscious market. Sanket Prakash Tulangekar, Director of MakeMyTrip, discussed the advancements of their AI assistant, Myra, which enhances user experience through conversational interfaces and multi-agent orchestration, making travel planning more seamless.
The sun-kissed shores of Goa once again played host to the brightest minds in
advertising
and business as
Goafest 2025
kicked off its exhilarating Day 2. Attendees, still buzzing from the previous evening's festivities, were treated to a soulful start with a captivating live performance by the renowned Indian singer and composer Raghav Sachar, whose melodies set a harmonious tone for the day.
But the real symphony began with the day's inaugural session—From Code To Commerce: Growth in the AI Age. This high-energy panel discussion dove headfirst into the very heart of the global business revolution: Artificial Intelligence. Moderated by independent journalist and producer Anuradha SenGupta, the session brought together industry leaders including Arjun Choudhary, vice president,
Swiggy
, Sanket Prakash Tulangekar, director, MakeMyTrip, Tejas Apte, head of media and digital marketing at Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Pragya Bijalwan, chief marketing officer at Voltas.
From the quiet hum of back-end analytics to the vibrant roar of consumer engagement, these top executives illuminated how AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a tangible, transformative force actively reshaping their operations and redefining the very fabric of commerce in India.
'In the HVAC space, AI has changed how consumers interact with appliances,' said Bijalwan from Voltas. She further added, 'Our systems now personalise room temperatures through app-based learning and voice assistants like Google and Alexa. It's about humanising technology.' Beyond comfort, she noted that AI is driving predictive maintenance, enhancing energy efficiency, and enabling CDP-driven service readiness—all critical factors in India's cost-conscious consumer market.
Apte offered a sweeping view of AI's penetration. 'We began in R&D,' he said, referring to HUL's Agile Innovation Hub, where AI spots global CPG trends, mixes sample product formulations, and even 3D-prints prototypes. 'Now, AI is in our supply chain, sales apps like Shikhar, and even in marketing—where we recently deployed 150,000 personalised video ads using actor Arshad Warsi's voice for kirana stores,' shared Apte. The company's marketing teams are also producing fully AI-generated digital assets using platforms like Pencil Pro, enabling quicker campaign rollouts and experimental content strategies.
On the travel front, MakeMyTrip is revolutionising the user experience with extensive AI integration. Tulangekar, detailed how their AI assistant, Myra, is at the forefront of this transformation. Myra leverages AI-driven review summarization to quickly provide users with holistic insights into accommodations. It also employs natural language interfaces, allowing users to converse with the platform for seamless queries.
Beyond simple interactions, Myra features agentic frameworks that simulate real-world multi-agent collaboration. This sophisticated system guides users through complex tasks like booking flights and hotels, and even planning entire itineraries. Tulangekar emphasised Myra's use of multi-agent orchestration to handle a wide array of queries related to hotels, flights, and activities.
'The future of travel assistance is conversational,' said Tulangekar. 'We've trained AI agents to specialise in hotels, flights, local transport, and destination discovery—all working together behind the scenes.'
Food delivery platform—Swiggy is also investing heavily in AI. Choudhary, revealed internal transformations such as sales co-pilots, AI-generated PRDs, and automated meeting summarisation into podcasts. 'We've democratized AI,' he said. 'It's no longer just for tech teams—business folks are generating product demos and user journeys on their own.'
Yet, the discussion wasn't without concerns.
As generative AI content floods marketing channels, ethical questions are rising. Should AI-generated advertisements be labeled? How do brands ensure authenticity, especially when content is personalised at scale?
'Labeling AI content may not always be necessary unless it's misleading,' said Choudhary. 'But when it comes to sensitive content like food imagery, we prefer authentic photos over generated visuals.'
Bijalwan highlighted a successful example from Voltas: a personalised video campaign featuring its mascot 'Murthy' addressing channel partners by name. The campaign saw 98% click-through and 87% video completion rates—a testament to the power of AI-personalised engagement.
Meanwhile, regulatory clarity remains a work in progress. While the U.S. and EU are pushing for stricter AI governance, India continues to promote a self-regulation model.
Eventually, we'll need clearer guardrails, admitted Choudhary, referencing content duplication and misuse issues. 'But responsible AI use starts with how we treat consumer data and intellectual property,' he added.
Despite the open questions, the mood on stage was overwhelmingly optimistic. 'AI won't replace jobs—it will transform them,' said Bijalwan in her closing remarks. 'The onus is on both individuals and organisations to upskill and adapt. AI will be function-agnostic—it's not just for tech, marketing, or operations. It's for everyone.'