Digital
AI, aye captain – Rishad Tobaccowala fires up GoaFest with his human touch about artificial intelligence
GOA: Who knew a masterclass in artificial intelligence could feel this human?
At the 2025 edition of GoaFest, held at Taj Cidade de Goa Horizon, marketing sage and Publicis Groupe senior advisor Rishad Tobaccowala kicked off the event with a keynote that was equal parts wake-up call and soul-stirring sermon. In a session titled Ignite, Tobaccowala didn’t just warn the ad world about AI, he challenged it to rekindle its human spark.
The thesis?
AI isn’t just the next big thing, it’s already bigger than we think. “AI in 2025 is still underhyped,” he declared, noting that many businesses still haven’t grasped how deeply it’s reshaping the fundamentals. And he came bearing receipts.
Forty years ago, a desktop computer cost 5,000 dollars and ran on 1.5 million transistors. Today, your smartphone is 10 times cheaper and runs on 1.5 billion transistors. “The cost of computing has dropped by a factor of 10 million,” he said, with the drop in information distribution costs also approaching zero. “And now, the cost of knowledge and experience is heading the same way.”
But here’s the kicker: that doesn’t make AI a differentiator, it makes it infrastructure.
“Saying you have AI is like saying you use electricity,” Tobaccowala quipped. “You won’t survive without it. But it’s not what will set you apart.”
What will? HI — Human Ingenuity, Intuition, Interaction, and Inspiration.
In a world where machines are smarter, faster, and cheaper, he argued, what remains irreplaceable is human originality. “When AI gives everyone the same data and tools, storytelling, creativity and trust become your only real edge,” he said, reaffirming marketers’ role as custodians of emotion and meaning.
Peppered with zingers, analogies, and a 220-second cheese brand startup powered by GPT-4, the session also made serious points about leadership in a rapidly shifting world. “If you’re planning to retire after 2026, think again,” he warned. “Most people won’t be replaced by AI, they’ll be replaced by other people using AI better.”
He also tore into the cult of corporate scale. “You’ll see billion-dollar companies with less than 100 employees,” said Tobaccowala, who himself pays $225 every month month to access top AI models from eight platforms, outperforming Fortune 500 firms stuck in bureaucratic inertia.
His call to action?
Rethink everything. “If you were starting your company today, would it look like it does now? No. Then why are you still running it that way?” From burning outdated mental models to embracing immigrant thinking (outsider mindset, underdog innovation), his message was clear: adapt or become obsolete.
He concluded with his signature “six Cs” for survival in the AI age: Cognition, Creativity, Curiosity, Communication, Collaboration, and Convincing, a new operating system for human relevance.
As for jobs? “Work will change more between 2019 and 2029 than it has in the past 50 years,” he said, forecasting a rise in gig-style, goal-focused work over traditional employment. “The future of work is about getting things done, not filling jobs.”
In a festival famous for its flair, Rishad Tobaccowala delivered a rare thing, a lecture that didn’t just ignite the mind, but lit a fire in the heart.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
