In a world where technology increasingly shapes human experiences, ethical implementation of AI isn’t merely a compliance exercise—it’s a competitive imperative with deep cultural resonance in the Indian context.
When India’s Election Commission issued an advisory in 2024 requiring political campaigns to prominently label synthetic and AI-generated content, it signaled a critical turning point. This directive went beyond politics, establishing India as a pioneer in the ethical integration of artificial intelligence within democratic frameworks. For business leaders across the subcontinent, the message was clear: as AI transforms marketing, transparency and trust aren’t optional—they’re essential.
This intersection of innovation and ethics has become increasingly significant as AI reshapes India’s business landscape. With the AI market expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 27.67% between 2025-2030, and projected to add between $2.6 to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, the transformation of Indian business through AI seems inevitable. The critical question facing marketing leaders is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to do so responsibly.
The Dual Edge of AI in Marketing
The efficiency gains of AI-powered marketing are undeniable. As a 2023 McKinsey report indicates, 71% of organizations worldwide are now regularly using generative AI in at least one business function, with marketing and sales leading adoption. For Indian businesses operating across multiple languages and cultural contexts, these efficiency gains are particularly valuable.
Yet beneath the excitement lies growing concern. According to research by Sixth City Marketing, 60% of marketing professionals worry that AI-generated content could harm brand reputation through issues like bias, plagiarism, or misalignment with brand values. These concerns have particular resonance in India’s complex, diverse market, where cultural sensitivity is paramount.
The stakes are high. As Kunal Purohit, Chief Digital Services Officer at Tech Mahindra, notes: “The reliance on human judgement underscores the increasing importance of a new role: the AI ethics engineer. These specialised experts ensure the ethical development and responsible deployment of AI systems by proactively identifying potential biases and respecting human rights.”
India’s Regulatory Landscape: Setting the Ethical Foundation
India’s approach to AI governance is evolving rapidly, creating both challenges and opportunities for business leaders seeking to implement AI ethically.
The AI for India 2030 Framework
In January 2024, the Indian government launched the AI for India 2030 initiative in alignment with the IndiaAI Mission. According to S. Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, this initiative emphasizes “ethical, inclusive and responsible AI adoption to position India as a global leader in AI innovation.”
For marketing leaders, these principles provide a valuable foundation for ethical AI implementation. They emphasize that responsible AI isn’t merely about avoiding harm but about actively promoting inclusion and transparency.
Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA)
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which came into effect in 2023, has significant implications for AI marketing. The Act establishes requirements for explicit consent before collecting and processing personal data, rights for individuals to access, correct, and delete their personal data, and obligations for data fiduciaries to implement appropriate security safeguards.
The DPDPA creates a framework that encourages ethical AI marketing practices. By requiring transparent data collection and processing, it pushes organizations to build trust with consumers—a critical foundation for effective marketing.
How Indian Tech Leaders Are Building Ethical AI Frameworks
India’s technology leaders are at the forefront of developing ethical AI practices that can serve as models for businesses across sectors:
TCS: Building Ethical AI Governance
Tata Consultancy Services has made substantial investments in AI training, claiming to be one of the largest providers of AI-trainer workforce globally with over 100,000 employees trained to date. By early 2024, TCS had more than 250 generative AI opportunities in its pipeline, demonstrating both the market demand and the company’s commitment to building AI capabilities.
What makes TCS’s approach noteworthy is its emphasis on governance and ethics alongside technical capability. The company’s work with Azure OpenAI highlights how Indian firms are partnering with global technology providers while developing frameworks for responsible implementation that respect local contexts and values.
Tech Mahindra: Pioneering the AI Ethics Engineer Role
Tech Mahindra has been recognized among the “Best AI Company of the Year” at the Global AI Summit & Award 2024 by AICRA, highlighting the company’s leadership in ethical AI practices. A critical component of their approach is the development of specialized roles focused on ethical implementation.
As the company works with clients to transform business processes with AI, it emphasizes the need for a framework that can “help organizations assess and define AI strategy and dimensions for enterprise AI adoption responsibly.” This focus on responsible adoption speaks to a growing recognition that ethical considerations must be built into AI systems from the ground up rather than added as an afterthought.
Infosys: Building Topaz with Ethics by Design
At Infosys, CEO Salil Parekh has highlighted the company’s work on over 90 generative AI programs by early 2024, with 57,000 employees trained in generative AI skills. The company’s Topaz generative AI capability set is gaining market traction, and Infosys is working with both proprietary and open-source Large Language Models to develop solutions that align with client values and needs.
Infosys’s approach is particularly notable for its emphasis on what could be called “ethics by design”—building ethical considerations into AI solutions from the beginning rather than treating them as compliance requirements to be met after development. This approach has helped the company maintain its position as one of India’s most ethical companies according to Ethisphere’s annual list.
Strategic Imperatives for Ethical AI Marketing
For Indian marketing leaders seeking to develop ethical AI practices, three strategic imperatives emerge from the examples set by these technology leaders and regulatory frameworks:
1. Develop Comprehensive AI Governance Frameworks
Smart Insights recommends that businesses “create an AI policy framework to provide guidelines on ethics, data privacy, security, and explainability of AI systems across the organisation.” This framework should address four key challenges identified by Implement AI: job displacement, data privacy, digital ethics, and security risks.
A comprehensive governance framework should include clear guidelines on when and how AI can be used in marketing, processes for reviewing AI-generated content before publication, and mechanisms for addressing ethical concerns when they arise. Most importantly, it should involve stakeholders from across the organization—not just technology teams but also marketing, legal, and business units.
For instance, the Indian government’s AI for India 2030 initiative emphasizes the need for ethical, inclusive, and responsible AI adoption. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into marketing strategies, businesses that develop strong governance frameworks will be better positioned to navigate regulatory requirements and build consumer trust.
2. Implement Transparency Practices in Consumer Communication
The Election Commission of India’s directive on labeling AI-generated content points to a broader trend toward transparency in AI use. For marketers, this means being open about when and how AI is used in customer communications.
Transparency builds trust. Rather than hiding AI involvement, businesses should consider following the ECI’s lead by clearly disclosing when content has been generated or augmented by AI. This approach acknowledges consumers’ growing awareness of AI and respects their right to know how the content they consume is created.
Moreover, transparency can serve as a competitive differentiator. As consumers become more concerned about AI ethics, businesses that demonstrate responsible use through clear disclosure and ethical practices can build stronger relationships with their customers.
3. Develop Bias Mitigation Methodologies
Given India’s extraordinary diversity across languages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds, addressing bias in AI marketing systems is particularly crucial.
Developing robust methodologies for identifying and addressing biases in AI systems is essential. This includes creating diverse testing datasets that represent India’s linguistic and cultural diversity, establishing regular bias audits that evaluate AI systems across multiple demographic dimensions, and implementing ongoing monitoring of AI system outputs to detect emerging biases.
4. Build Ethical AI Literacy Across Marketing Teams
For AI marketing to be implemented ethically, it’s essential that marketing teams understand not just how to use AI tools but also the ethical considerations they raise.
Smart Insights’ research shows that while 78% of organizations worldwide use AI in at least one business function, there are significant variations in how effectively it’s implemented. Leading Indian technology firms are addressing this through massive investments in training, with TCS training 100,000 employees, Infosys training 57,000 staff in generative AI skills, and other major tech companies making similar investments.
For marketing teams, AI literacy should go beyond technical skills to include ethical considerations and judgment development. As AI capabilities evolve, the most valuable skill will be knowing when and how to use AI appropriately—and when human judgment should take precedence.
The Competitive Advantage of Ethical AI
While ethical AI implementation is often discussed as a risk mitigation strategy, forward-thinking Indian companies are discovering that it can also be a source of competitive advantage.
Building Trust in a Skeptical Market
As AI becomes more prevalent in marketing, consumer skepticism is growing. Companies that implement ethical AI practices with transparency are positioned to build trust in this increasingly skeptical environment.
Attracting and Retaining Talent
The competition for AI and marketing talent in India is intense. Companies with strong ethical AI practices have an advantage in attracting and retaining this talent, as professionals increasingly consider a company’s ethical AI practices when evaluating job opportunities.
Future-Proofing Against Regulatory Changes
India’s regulatory environment for AI and data continues to evolve rapidly. Companies that implement ethical AI practices now are better positioned to adapt to future regulatory requirements.
Looking Forward: India’s Opportunity for Ethical AI Leadership
As the world’s largest democracy and a growing technology hub, India has a unique opportunity to lead in ethical AI implementation. The AI for India 2030 initiative emphasizes ethical, inclusive and responsible AI adoption to position India as a global leader in AI innovation.
For Indian marketing leaders, this creates both a responsibility and an opportunity. By developing AI marketing approaches that respect consumer privacy, enhance trust, and deliver measurable business results, they can help shape the future of marketing not just in India but globally.
The integration of AI into marketing is already transforming how brands connect with consumers. But the most successful implementations will be those that balance innovation with ethics. As S. Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, notes regarding the AI for India 2030 initiative: “To enable this growth and become a global tech powerhouse, we need collaboration from all stakeholders to leverage Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies for critical challenges.”
Conclusion: Digital Dharma as Competitive Advantage
The ancient concept of dharma—righteous conduct that sustains the natural order—offers a powerful metaphor for ethical AI implementation in marketing. Just as dharma is not merely a set of restrictions but a path to harmony and prosperity, ethical AI practices are not merely constraints but foundations for sustainable business success.
The question is no longer whether AI will transform marketing in India, but how Indian businesses will transform AI marketing for the better. By developing comprehensive governance frameworks, implementing transparency practices, addressing biases, and building ethical AI literacy, forward-thinking leaders can ensure they’re on the right side of this transformative shift.
The companies that will thrive in this new era won’t be those that simply deploy AI most aggressively, but those that implement it most thoughtfully—combining technological sophistication with ethical consideration and human expertise. In doing so, they’ll not only drive business results but also help shape the future of responsible AI use globally.
As Tech Mahindra’s Kunal Purohit puts it: “The future of work is not man versus machine — it is man enhanced by machine.” For marketing leaders navigating the ethical complexities of AI, this perspective offers a valuable guide. By viewing AI as a tool to enhance human creativity and judgment rather than replace it, they can develop approaches that are not just powerful but principled.
In the evolving landscape of digital dharma, the path forward lies in recognizing that ethical considerations aren’t constraints on innovation but essential foundations for sustainable success.
This ethical framework builds upon the strategic foundations outlined in “Beyond Hype: Navigating the AI Revolution.” For specific examples of how ethical AI principles apply to personalization, see “From Bazaar to Binary: AI’s Personalization Revolution in Indian Business.”
Picture Courtesy: Unsplash Images
Published at: https://reputationtoday.in/digital-dharma-navigating-the-ethics-of-ai-marketing/
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