MAM
Isobar brings integrated video chatbot tech for Dzire
MUMBAI: Isobar, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, and Maruti Suzuki have rolled out India’s first Integrated Chatbot. Together, they have launched an innovative video banner with an in–built chatbot on select platforms. This interactive property will allow us to entertain users’ first level queries, thereby educating them about ‘A whole new world of Dzire’ and redirecting them to the main website and enabling a two-way communication with the relevant audience.
Isobar, the agency that handles the digital mandate for Maruti Suzuki India, created this innovation as part of the launch campaign of brand Dzire. The all-new Maruti Suzuki Dzire, with its smooth sedan styling, rich interiors and seamless enhancements, had to be introduced to the market in exciting new formats. Being an existing segment leader, Maruti Suzuki decided to be bold and bring forward the renewed brand message and capture existing and new audiences’ interest.
Commenting on this first of its kind innovation, Sanjeev Handa, VP Marketing said, “The video chat bot used for the All New Dzire is a very exciting innovation for us at Maruti Suzuki. It not only enables two-way communication with our audience, but allows us to immediately address their first level queries, real time and in a very engaging manner. We look forward to sustained quality engagement with consumers in future.”
Gopa Kumar, VP Isobar India, added, “We’re thrilled to be working with Maruti Suzuki and pioneer into the next level of conversational and engaging ad. This being an industry first, provides superior user experience on video and adding this extra level of personalisation with the Chatbot makes them even more powerful. This is also an example of what can be created when a great brand and truly cutting-edge technology team up. We expect this to be the first of many such campaigns as other brands discover the opportunities of Chabot integrations with their video ads.”
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
