India: As artificial intelligence platforms begin testing advertisements and sponsored recommendations, marketers are reassessing how influence works within conversational interfaces. Unlike traditional digital advertising, which relies on targeted creatives and predefined audience segments, AI-led conversational marketing operates in real time, responding to user intent as it emerges during the interaction.
Explaining this shift, Ajay Verma, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at 0101.Today, said, “AI-led conversational marketing differs from traditional targeted advertising by shifting from message delivery to real-time dialogue. Instead of pushing predefined creatives to segmented audiences, AI understands intent in the moment and responds contextually, helping consumers evaluate options rather than interrupting them. This makes influence feel assistive, not intrusive. Its truly data led intelligent 121 marketing at play. The emergence of Agentic AI will further propagate this, today there are few brands, specially in BFSI space who are the prime movers. Currently seen as experimentative rather than conclusive.”
The effectiveness of conversational marketing, however, depends on how transparently AI-driven recommendations are perceived. Verma noted that trust erodes quickly when such interactions feel overtly commercial. “Consumers increasingly perceive AI suggestions as advice when the interaction is transparent, relevant, and problem-solving. Trust is built when AI explains why a recommendation is made, aligns with user intent, and avoids over-selling. The biggest reason for failure currently is our eagerness to sell quickly. These are newer tools and tech not magic wands, where the results will be there immediately. When responses feel biased or opaque, they are quickly classified as promotion and lose credibility. Some cosmetic brands have adopted this and are seeing early results. Our advice is to deploy this from an experimentative budget rather than performance, so the outlook is different and the medium does not suffer an early death.”
0101.Today is a data-driven conversion specialist, focused on KPI improvement across the marketing funnel. The firm works at the intersection of data, media, communication, and technology, helping enterprises integrate brand building, acquisition, retention, and data into a unified growth system aligned to business outcomes rather than isolated campaign metrics.
As advertising becomes more embedded within AI-driven conversations, transparency is expected to play a critical role in determining long-term brand value. Verma added, “Clear labelling of sponsored AI responses will likely strengthen long-term brand value. While it may slightly reduce short-term engagement, transparency reinforces trust and positions brands as credible partners rather than covert advertisers. The internet is full of sponsored content, and the brands that maintain a realistic balance, will see long term success.”
