ASCI Outlines Roadmap to Build Trust Infrastructure for India’s Ad Ecosystem

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) unveiled its Vision 2032 at its 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM), outlining its roadmap for the period 2027-2032 with a focus on building the trust infrastructure across India’s advertising ecosystem.

The advertising ecosystem is moving faster than traditional safeguards, whether it’s through shrinking review times or formats to monitor or creators changing the control mechanism. Being able to defend, explain and sustain trust at speed and scale is now the key. Brand risk sits inside a wider trust problem with bad actors sometimes hijacking the narrative and consumers seeking evidence and specific explanations. Advertising is also being drawn into larger societal debates around public health, online safety and children’s well-being.

The advertising ecosystem, therefore, must be prepared for these changes.

Vision 2032 recognises this as a time of great evolution for advertising, which is witnessing disruptions such as artificial intelligence as well as major changes such as personalised communication, retail media and new digital formats. While traditional self-regulation remains at the centre of ASCI’s work, the organisation plans to expand its preventive role across policy, research, education, technology and industry capability building.

As part of this roadmap, ASCI plans to establish three Centres of Excellence covering legal and policy, responsible AI innovation in advertising, and creator excellence and trust.

● The ASCI Legal and Policy Forum will convene industry, legal experts, regulators, academics and consumer voices to discuss emerging issues that need regulatory clarity, interpretation or policy development in the area of advertising. The forum will also support research, policy discussions, guidance and industry training.

● The ASCI Centre for Responsible Innovation in AI in Advertising will focus on responsible use and innovation of AI across creative development, targeting, personalisation, influencer marketing and consumer engagement. It will develop guidance and conduct research on emerging areas, including synthetic media, AI-generated claims, agentic decision-making, and any other areas that impact the consumer’s ability to make informed choices.

● The ASCI Centre for Creator Excellence and Trust will engage with the growing creator ecosystem to focus on professional standards and training, creator certification, disclosure and compliance, and research. To drive these important initiatives, the board reappointed the existing Chairperson, Sudhanshu Vats, for an additional term. S Subramanyeswar will continue as vice-chairman and Paritosh Joshi as honorary treasurer.

Speaking on the occasion, Sudhanshu Vats, Chairperson , ASCI, said: “The speed at which advertising in India is evolving presents us with formidable regulatory challenges. AI, creators, platforms and personalisation are all reshaping how brands reach audiences. My focus is on ensuring ASCI’s Vision 2032 takes root. The three Centres of Excellence that we are looking to set up in the coming months are an important step in ASCI’s journey. The board is focused on ensuring ASCI’s capabilities expand at the same speed as the ecosystem it governs.”

S Subramanyeswar, Vice-Chairman, ASCI, added: “Advertising today involves far more players than before and Vision 2032 ensures we involve all of them. The Centres of Excellence that we have envisaged need and allow for more broad-based participation from many stakeholders beyond the traditional ones in the advertising ecosystem. This ensures that the growing ecosystem of advertising is effectively engaged with self-regulatory practices and contributes to its evolution.”

The ASCI Academy will continue to focus on training, consumer education and thought leadership, with future initiatives including a Trust in Advertising Index, industry and student training programmes, research partnerships, consumer education programmes and the ASCI AdTrust IP.

ASCI’s existing complaint practice continues to examine complaints from consumers, while strengthening its suo motu monitoring unit in priority categories, emerging advertising trends and vulnerabilities. ASCI’s complaints division is also exploring various AI technologies to strengthen its monitoring ability.

Through Vision 2032, ASCI aims to build on its self-regulatory mandate while strengthening its role in policy, research, education, technology and ecosystem engagement, with trust in advertising at the centre of its long-term agenda.