Brands
MuscleBlaze announces Shubman Gill as its brand ambassador
Mumbai: Sports nutrition brand MuscleBlaze has announced the appointment of Shubman Gill as its new brand ambassador for endorsing the brand’s MB Fuel One Sports range amongst the youth.
Shubman Gill, an Indian international cricketer, exemplifies what it means for young people to be fitness enthusiasts. His guiding principle, “Grind Now, Shine Later,” reveals how much value he places on his health. Given his enormous fan base, MuscleBlaze hopes that this partnership would further strengthen its brand engagement with athletes and fitness fans nationwide.
Talking about his association with MuscleBlaze, cricket’s rising star Shubman Gill said, “I’m excited to be a part of MuscleBlaze since I’ve always been passionate about working out every day and maintaining a fit lifestyle. With everyone getting busy and always juggling with their lives, nutrition takes a backseat; so my association with MuscleBlaze will promote the healthy way to be ahead in the game of staying active by dispelling the myth that consuming supplements and protein is a barrier to fitness”
Commenting on this brand ambassador announcement, HealthKart founder and CEO Sameer Maheshwari said, “The ethos of MuscleBlaze is to foster a Ziddi attitude, and Shubman’s journey reflects exactly that. He is a rising star and we are thrilled to fuel his achievements with our products like Biozyme etc. This partnership will scale great heights.“
Adding to the excitement, MuscleBlaze business head Kaustuv Paliwal said, “We’re thrilled to have Shubman Gill represent us as a brand ambassador. MB has a penchant for being the harbinger of great talent, and what we see in Shubman Gill is an unassailable potential to stand out with his champion mindset, exactly what MB stands for. Our association with such a trailblazing batsman, who has dauntlessly pursued his Zidd against all odds to make sure failure does not loom close, also reiterates our vigor to fuel the future of Indian sports with genuine supplements specially crafted for athletes. With this, we’re expecting to further motivate our young consumers and infuse them with the right supplements.”
The Fuel One Sports range by MuscleBlaze is specifically crafted for athletes to bolster uncompromised performance and set them up for the ultimate victory. The present portfolio of Fuel One Sports includes elite products like Sports Protein and rehydration fuel Hydr8 Pro available across all the major online marketplaces along with a promising product lineup in the pipeline.
Brands
AI becomes key tool for Indian travellers, Agoda report finds
68 per cent plan to use AI for trips as 33 per cent already rely on it.
MUMBAI: Holiday planning is getting a software upgrade less “Where should we go?” and more “What does the algorithm say?” Indian travellers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to map their journeys, with new data from Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report suggesting that AI is fast becoming central to how trips are imagined, planned and booked.
While 33 per cent of respondents said they already use AI tools for travel planning, a far larger 68 per cent indicated they are likely to rely on it for their next trip pointing to a sharp acceleration in adoption in a market already comfortable with digital-first travel.
What travellers want from AI, however, goes well beyond basic search. The report shows 38 per cent are looking for recommendations on local attractions and activities, while 37 per cent expect personalised itineraries. Destination discovery remains a key use case at 29 per cent, with dining suggestions (23 per cent) and budget management (22 per cent) also emerging as practical applications.
The shift reflects a broader change in expectations AI is no longer a novelty but a planning companion expected to work across every stage of the journey, from inspiration to execution.
Trust levels appear to be keeping pace. Nearly 88 per cent of respondents said they either trust or feel neutral about AI-generated recommendations, including 53 per cent who expressed clear confidence. This builds on earlier trends, with Agoda’s 2025 survey showing nine in ten Indian travellers already using apps to book travel suggesting AI adoption is more evolution than disruption.
The company has been testing this appetite through initiatives such as its 2025 AI-powered Vacation Planner campaign, which generated customised itineraries and visuals based on user inputs, delivered with a layer of celebrity-led engagement.
For platforms like Agoda, which aggregates more than 6 million properties, over 130,000 flight routes and 300,000 travel activities, AI offers a way to navigate scale without overwhelming users turning abundance into relevance.
As AI continues to embed itself into everyday decision-making, India is emerging as a market where travel planning is not just going digital, but decisively intelligent.
