'We are not trying to compete with Google or Meta': Mobavenue CEO on building outside the walled gardens

India's digital advertising ecosystem is entering a new phase where retail media, AI-led personalization and high-intent consumer acquisition are reshaping how brands spend their marketing budgets.For adtech platform Mobavenue AI Tech Limited, which began by helping digital-first startups acquire customers during India's post-Jio internet boom, the next chapter lies in building AI-driven marketing products while expanding aggressively into emerging international markets.In an interview with Storyboard18, Ishank Joshi, Founder, MD & CEO of Mobavenue AI Tech Limited, spoke about why challenger brands are pouring money into retail media, why AI adoption is more of an organizational challenge than a marketing one, why the company isn't trying to compete with Google or Meta, and why markets such as Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina represent bigger opportunities than the Middle East.'We were born because digital-native brands needed customer acquisition'Tracing Mobavenue's origins, Joshi said the company was founded in 2017 to solve one specific problem: helping internet-first businesses acquire users.He said India's digital transformation accelerated after demonetisation and the rollout of Jio, which dramatically lowered internet costs and pushed both consumers and businesses online."As digital-native companies scaled rapidly, we built technology to help them acquire consumers, remarket to them and eventually expand into Tier II and Tier III markets using digital channels," he said.According to Joshi, the company's biggest inflection point came in 2020 when businesses across sectors—not just digital startups—began prioritising digital customer acquisition."Whether it was FMCG, healthcare, BFSI or retail, every brand wanted to become digital first."'We don't compete with Google or Meta'Despite operating in the advertising technology space, Joshi said Mobavenue does not see itself competing directly with digital giants such as Google or Meta.Instead, he described those platforms as "walled gardens" where advertisers compete simultaneously for the same audience."When you generate intent on platforms like Meta, that same user is simultaneously exposed to hundreds of competing brands," he said.Mobavenue instead focuses on identifying high-intent consumers across the open internet through programmatic advertising."We are not trying to bring millions of users. We want to bring thousands of high-quality users whose lifetime value is significantly higher."Retail media spending is being led by challenger brandsRetail media has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments in digital advertising, driven initially by direct-to-consumer startups but increasingly adopted by established consumer brands.According to Joshi, quick commerce has fundamentally altered consumer purchasing behaviour by compressing the purchase journey from hours—or even days—to just minutes."Challenger brands have been among the biggest spenders because quick commerce allows hyperlocal targeting down to pin-code levels."He added that large FMCG companies have also significantly increased investments as consumers increasingly purchase daily essentials through quick-commerce platforms.Electronics is another category witnessing rapid adoption."Today consumers can order an iPhone in ten minutes. Earlier, they either waited a day or physically visited a store."Mobavenue works with retail media partners by identifying high-intent buyers outside retail platforms and directing them toward those ecosystems before purchase decisions are made.AI is not a CMO problem—it is a company problemWhile artificial intelligence dominates boardroom discussions, Joshi believes the biggest challenge isn't marketers' understanding of AI but whether companies have modernised their underlying systems."I don't think AI is fundamentally a CMO problem. It is an organisational transformation problem."He said AI enables marketers to create personalised communication, generate content at scale and identify valuable customer segments more efficiently.However, companies need technology infrastructure capable of supporting AI-led workflows before they can fully benefit."Once your systems are ready, AI can help identify high-value consumers and personalise engagement at scale."Emerging markets are becoming the next growth engineAlthough India remains Mobavenue's largest market, Joshi expects significant future growth from emerging international markets that are following India's digital adoption curve.Countries across Southeast Asia and Latin America—including Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina—are witnessing rapid internet penetration, digital payments adoption and the emergence of digital-first businesses."They are where India was a few years ago. They now have affordable internet, QR payments and digital-native brands, which creates similar opportunities."Alongside emerging markets, Mobavenue is also expanding into developed markets such as the US, UK and Europe by helping brands improve digital customer acquisition.Middle East remains a secondary marketAsked about expansion into the Middle East, Joshi said the region remains relatively small compared with India and larger Asian advertising markets."The overall advertising market there is around $2-3 billion, whereas India alone is roughly a $9-billion market."Rather than building a direct presence, Mobavenue currently operates through reseller partnerships serving countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and parts of Africa.The company primarily targets advertising markets worth at least $5 billion before making direct investments.Content AI and agentic platforms are acquisition prioritiesWhile Mobavenue continues to prioritise organic growth, acquisitions remain part of its long-term strategy.Joshi identified AI-powered content creation and agentic marketing technologies as the company's primary acquisition focus."Everything can be built internally, but acquisitions help us build capabilities much faster."The company is particularly evaluating adjacent opportunities across MarTech, monetisation platforms and AI-powered content generation that complement its existing advertising business.Instagram's TV ambitions are about premium advertisingCommenting on Instagram's latest push into connected television, Joshi said the move reflects the growing convergence between television and digital advertising.He argued that while short-form video dominates smartphones, connected TVs offer access to premium audiences consuming longer-form content."TV has always been the best medium for reaching mass audiences. Connected TV simply brings internet capability to that larger screen."According to him, platforms like Instagram are trying to replicate YouTube's success by extending existing audiences across mobile, desktop and television."Once audiences start consuming content on TV, those users become monetisable across every screen."He added that the trend also benefits the broader open internet ecosystem, as consumers increasingly split viewing time across streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hotstar and Zee5 rather than remaining within a single platform.Technology first, media enabledLooking ahead, Joshi said Mobavenue sees itself evolving beyond an advertising technology company into a broader technology platform serving media companies, advertisers and publishers."We are technology first, but media enabled," he said."Our goal is to build technology products that help advertisers, broadcasters, publishers and brands grow faster using AI, consumer intelligence and programmatic media."The company plans to continue expanding its AI capabilities while building products across advertising, marketing and consumer growth as it scales both within India and internationally.Read More:Adtech has a measurement problem. mediasmart wants to rewrite the math across screens