MAM
Why marketing in 2026 will be led by AI agents, not campaigns: Netcore report
MUMBAI: Marketing is about to lose its comfort blanket. According to a new report from Netcore, 2026 will be the year when campaigns stop calling the shots and autonomous AI agents take over the hard work of growth.
Released today, Netcore Agentic Predictions 2026 argues that marketing is moving past flashy AI experiments and into a far more serious phase of execution. The future, it says, belongs to intelligent agents that plan, act, optimise and learn continuously, often without human nudging.
The report draws on research from Gartner, Forrester, McKinsey, HubSpot and Anthropic, along with Netcore’s own experience working with global enterprises. Its conclusion is blunt: marketing is becoming quieter, more accountable and far more automated.
From helpers to whole teams
One of the biggest shifts highlighted is the rise of multi-agent systems. Instead of a single AI assistant writing copy or suggesting audiences, brands are beginning to deploy networks of specialised agents that work together across content, targeting, decision-making and optimisation.
The results are hard to ignore. Research cited in the report shows multi-agent systems outperform single-agent setups by over 90 per cent on complex tasks. More than half of organisations using them report better scalability, while many see them as a genuine competitive edge. Interest has surged too, with Gartner logging a dramatic spike in enterprise queries around multi-agent systems in the past year.
The promise is simple: fewer dashboards, less manual coordination and marketing engines that optimise themselves in real time.
Goodbye reach, hello relevance
Perhaps the most intriguing idea in the report is the rise of brand twins. These are always-on, brand-owned AI agents designed to understand individual consumers deeply and act in their interests.
The timing is no accident. Attention is collapsing. Most people skim rather than read, and meaningful engagement is increasingly rare. Netcore argues that shouting louder is no longer the answer. Brand twins learn preferences, intent and behaviour continuously, enabling fewer but far more relevant interactions.
Marketing, in this world, becomes calmer and more contextual. Less noise, more trust.
Shopping gets smarter
If any sector feels the impact first, it will be e-commerce. The report predicts that AI agents will influence a significant share of online transactions within the decade. Soon, brand agents and consumer agents will negotiate prices, promotions and recommendations directly with each other, in real time.
This agent-to-agent commerce model promises shopping experiences that adapt instantly to context, availability and demand, without endless clicks or comparisons.
Attention is the real prize
As AI agents increasingly filter choices on our behalf, brands will find themselves addressing two audiences at once: humans and machines. Attention, already scarce, becomes the ultimate growth moat.
Winning brands, the report suggests, will be those that can appeal to human emotion while also satisfying the logic of AI gatekeepers.
Paying for results, not tools
The report also takes aim at bloated martech stacks. With most marketers unhappy about cost versus value, Netcore predicts a decisive shift towards outcome-based pricing. Instead of paying for licences and features, brands will pay for results such as conversions, revenue and lifetime value.
It is a reset many marketers may quietly welcome.
A new role for the CMO
As execution becomes increasingly autonomous, accountability moves upwards. Netcore forecasts that CMOs will evolve into leaders who orchestrate AI systems and directly own growth and profitability.
“2025 was about proving that AI works. 2026 will be about proving that it delivers,” said Netcore Cloud founder and managing director Rajesh Jain. “As agents take over execution, attention and outcomes become the real constraints. This is not a tool upgrade. It is a new operating model for marketing.”
Netcore Agentic Predictions 2026 is aimed at CMOs, CXOs and growth leaders preparing for the shift from AI-assisted marketing to agent-led execution. The report will anchor Netcore Cloud’s research and executive engagement initiatives throughout 2026.
Brands
Hardik Jhaveri named senior director marketing at Colgate-Palmolive Asean hub
Former Hill’s Pet Nutrition general manager returns to the company to steer marketing for South Asean from Kuala Lumpur
KUALA LUMPUR: Hardik Jhaveri has been appointed senior director marketing for the South Asean hub at Colgate-Palmolive, marking a return to the consumer goods major after a three year stint with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. He will be based in Kuala Lumpur and will lead marketing strategy for the region.
Jhaveri joins the role after serving as general manager at Hill’s Pet Nutrition in Taipei, where he led a cross functional team and oversaw the business with full profit and loss responsibility. The role placed him at the helm of operations in Taiwan, managing growth in what he described as a start-up style environment within a global multinational.
Before that, Jhaveri spent over a decade with Colgate-Palmolive across several marketing and innovation roles in Asia. As associate director innovation for Apac excluding China, based in Hong Kong, he led new product development and launches across multiple markets.
His portfolio ranged from developing specialised oral care products such as a diabetes focused toothpaste for the Indian market to launching premium oral care experiences under the Colgate Total brand in Australia. Alongside innovation, he also worked on launch planning, brand strategy and communications for the company’s oral care portfolio.
Earlier in his Colgate-Palmolive journey, Jhaveri held roles including marketing manager innovation, senior brand manager and brand manager. His work spanned urban and rural markets in Mumbai and customer development responsibilities in the Greater Kolkata Area.
Prior to his long association with Colgate-Palmolive, Jhaveri worked as brand officer home care at Unilever, where he helped drive marketing initiatives for the Rin detergent brand, including nationwide relaunch and on ground activation campaigns.
He began his career in advertising with Bates David Enterprise, working on brands such as IDBI Bank, The Leela Hotels and The Times of India.
Jhaveri holds a post graduate programme in management from the Indian School of Business and has also completed a level 4 diploma in wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Announcing the move, Jhaveri said he is excited to begin his new chapter at Colgate-Palmolive’s South Asean hub and thanked colleagues and mentors who supported his journey at Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
