Rethinking Everything in 2026 feat. Rishad Tobaccowala (Formerly at Publicis Groupe; Author: Rethinking Work)

Episode 15: The Year-Ender | Scale, Soul, and the Agentic AI Revolution with Rishad Tobaccowala As 2025 draws to a close, the advertising world is reeling from the massive Omnicom-IPG merger and the realization that AI is moving faster than anyone predicted. To make sense of it all, we are joined by world-renowned marketing visionary Rishad Tobaccowala. In this deep-dive finale, Rishad challenges the industry’s obsession with scale, arguing that "relevance" is the only currency that matters in 2026. We discuss why agencies shouldn’t try to out-consult the consultants, but instead double down on what they do best: Storytelling, Provenance, and Emotion. Key Highlights of this episode: * The Scale Paradox: Why the Omnicom-IPG merger might be a legacy solution to a modern problem. * Poetry vs. Plumbing: Why AI makes knowledge free, but makes "the soul of business" more expensive than ever. * Agentic AI: Why the real revolution isn't Generative AI, but Agentic AI—which is currently doubling in capability every 8 weeks. * The 100-Employee Billion-Dollar Company: How small teams are replacing massive headcount as the new gold standard for impact. * The Future of Work: Why 60-80% of your future workforce will be freelancers, and how to lead them. * The "No PowerPoint" Pitch: How to win business with perspectives and provocations instead of decks. Whether you are a CMO, an agency leader, or a "media company of one" (which, as Rishad notes, every Gen Z consumer now is), this episode is your blueprint for the next three years of marketing. The Indian AdGeek streams on all major podcast apps. Rishad on X Vishal on X Rishad’s website Rishad’s Substack Rishad’s Podcast