Ajay Kakar Advocates Integrated Approach for Agencies at Goafest 2026

As artificial intelligence and fragmented consumer behaviour continue to reshape advertising, agencies can no longer afford to operate in silos or rely on legacy models, according to Ajay Kakar, Chairperson of the Abby Awards 2026.

Speaking to exchange4media at Goafest 2026, Kakar said the advertising industry is at a point where continuous reinvention is critical, both for agencies and for platforms like the Abby Awards that aim to stay relevant to the changing ecosystem.

“The Abby Awards is a 57-year-old brand. It has survived only because of two reasons. One is that it remains constant. Two, it remains relevant by reinventing itself,” Kakar said.

According to Kakar, this philosophy has directly shaped the new categories introduced at Abby Awards 2026, including categories around innovation in AI, Independent Agency of the Year and Client of the Year. Rather than simply responding to industry buzzwords, he said the awards are attempting to stay “one step ahead of the curve”.

“Everyone is talking about AI. We are not giving any award for AI. We are giving an award for innovation in AI,” he said, adding that the intention is to encourage meaningful creative application of emerging technologies rather than reward trend adoption alone.

Kakar also said the introduction of newer categories reflects broader structural shifts within the agency landscape, particularly the rise of independent agencies and growing industry consolidation through holding companies.

He said, “We realised that big clients and big agencies usually win these awards. But independent agencies are becoming a reality. So, we created a category where smaller Indian agencies can compete equally with the big boys.”

At the same time, Abby Awards has also introduced a Network Agency of the Year category to acknowledge the increasing prominence of holding companies in the business.

On the question of originality, ethics and authorship in AI-led submissions, Kakar clarified that the awards committee itself does not interfere in the judging process. Instead, evaluations are handled independently by globally experienced jury chairs along with oversight from EY and international benchmarking through its partnership with The One Club One Show. 

“The judges are looking at what is real AI, what is a mixture of AI and real, and what is real. The same standards that are applied globally have to be applied here,” he noted.

Beyond awards, Kakar also addressed the growing industry conversation around agencies losing creative control as brands increasingly work directly with creators, influencers and specialised partners. He argued that agencies that fail to evolve around changing consumer behaviour will naturally struggle to retain relevance.

“Creative agencies have to reinvent themselves, have been reinventing themselves and will keep reinventing themselves,” Kakar said.

He added that the biggest challenge today lies in the fragmented structure of agencies themselves, even as consumers increasingly interact across multiple channels seamlessly. 

He said, “We call consumers omni-channel consumers. Then agencies split themselves into creative agency, media agency, digital agency, search agency, ORM agency. Agencies now have to come together and say we are one agency looking at one consumer.”

Kakar also reflected on Goafest 2026’s theme, ‘Reset for Growth’, saying the idea of reinvention should not be viewed as a one-time exercise or annual slogan but as a constant industry mindset.

“Don’t chase fashions. Don’t chase trends. Stay with newer and newer ways of catching and connecting with your consumer,” he said.

On the creative front, Kakar said Indian advertising has become significantly more confident in embracing regional storytelling and culturally rooted communication. According to him, brands are increasingly recognising the value of speaking to consumers in their own languages instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all communication approach. 

“If you talk to everyone in their own language, the connection will be faster and better,” he said.