In a world of content overload and fractured attention spans, personalisation is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s the currency of relevance.

At the INMA South Asia News Media Conference and accompanying Mumbai study tour last week, one message rang clear: South Asian publishers are embedding personalisation into the very infrastructure of journalism, technology, advertising, and product development. 

Across AI-powered newsrooms, chatbot-enhanced user journeys, personalised marketing campaigns, and data-enriched content experiences, media companies are moving from generic broadcasting to intelligent engagement. Here is how they are doing it.

Across two days of conference and two days of study tour, personalisation was not treated as a technology layer but as a cultural mindset and operational necessity. From content to commerce, the push was toward building direct, multi-generational relationships with users through trust, habit, and utility.

Across many cases — from Jagran’s article scoring to Amar Ujala’s AI news anchor, from Dream11’s ML pipelines to Wondrlab’s school inventory mapping — it’s clear that AI is the silent, consistent thread powering personalisation. AI is personalisation’s invisible hand.

Times of India personalisation to increase engagement and daily time spent

Rohit Garg, head of product and design at Times of India Online, emphasised that personalisation is no longer a luxury but “table stakes,” echoing others at the conference. While most discussions centre on click-through rates (CTR), Garg said The Times of India Online is aiming beyond that, focusing on increasing per-user engagement and daily time spent.

Key personalisation initiatives include: 

• Smart push notifications: Headlines and alerts are tailored for different audience segments based on user preferences, increasing relevance and engagement.

• Personalised AI-generated content: Tools like their AI-powered CMS suggest titles, synopses, and tags — streamlining production while keeping editorial control intact.

• AI video summaries: Tools summarise top headlines or market updates via AI anchors with the potential for hyper-personalised, paywalled video content (e.g., stock portfolios narrated individually).

• Crosswords based on yesterday’s news: Topical, personalised games like Crossword and Connect are generated using AI, enhancing user interaction and habit formation.

• Chatbot-driven advertising: Chatbots trained on advertiser data offer personalised brand interactions, especially for product launches — boosting both engagement and lead capture.

Garg’s larger point is that personalisation isn’t just for clicks — it’s for building deeper, daily relationships with users.

HT Media’s approach to personalisation focuses on delivering value at every touchpoint

Puneet Jain, CEO of HT Digital, outlined how HT Media is making personalisation central to its AI strategy — not just for engagement but to transform content, marketing, and monetisation.

Jain called personalisation a “Level 2” AI intervention — long desired but hard to scale until GenAI made it faster, more precise, and capable of real-time learning.

One major initiative is a personalised homepage for every logged-in user. It combines: 

• Custom info widgets (weather, markets, sports).

• A tailored newsfeed. 

• Curated newsletters and editorial specials.

• A gamified rewards section with “Now Coins” for brand vouchers. 

This goes beyond basic recommendations. Jain called it a “Level 3” intervention — impossible without AI — where the user experience adapts to individual preferences and behaviours. 

HT is also using GenAI to generate multiple formats from one article: visual cards, summaries, audio briefings, explainers, and carousels. These are tailored for platforms like Google, Instagram, X, and ChatGPT, creating the foundation for scaled targeting. 

On the monetisation side, HT’s in-house ad tech and customer data platform enable ad-level personalisation. The system pairs users with relevant content and creative, driving click-through rates up to 0.8% — two to three times industry norms. 

HT is even testing WhatsApp-based commerce, where users can engage, ask questions, and purchase products directly. Jain sees this as a breakthrough for Indian media.

In short, HT Media sees personalisation not as a feature but as an organisation-wide shift. “AI needs to be embedded across the organisation” to deliver value across content, product, and revenue touchpoints, he said.

Personalisation at scale: Dream11’s master class

If news publishers needed inspiration from beyond journalism, they found it in on the Mumbai study tour with Dream11. With 213 million users and 45 million concurrent transactions, the fantasy sports giant exemplifies hyper-personalisation at industrial scale.

Their secret: Hundreds of ML models governing onboarding, contest recommendations, payment routing, fraud detection, and churn prediction. First-time users are treated to a completely different journey than returning ones. And high-cognitive-stress points like payment failures are addressed with real-time nudges and adaptive design.

One executive noted to study tour participants, “We don’t just serve content. We orchestrate emotion — curiosity, risk, trust — at scale. Every touchpoint is optimised to retain, convert, and delight.” 

This is the level of rigour news publishers must aspire to if they hope to compete with entertainment and sports platforms for attention.

Every company on the study tour — from fintech to fantasy sports — emphasised the strategic value of first-party data. At Upstox, personalised onboarding flows for new investors drive activation. At FanCode, payment data and sports preferences power match recommendations. And at IPG Mediabrands, behavioural segmentation powers personalised marketing journeys for brands.

The golden rule: personalise in exchange for clear user value — insights, offers, or content access. When done well, it boosts conversion, trust, and lifetime value.

Personalisation’s lift and vision at Jagran

Jagran is reclaiming audience relationships in a time of volatile traffic and reduced platform control, said Gaurav Arora, COO of Jagran New Media. At the core: personalisation powered by identity, AI, and habit-building.

A cornerstone of this strategy is Jagran’s single sign-on (SSO), a unified user ID across all properties that enables behavioural insights and personalised experiences. 

Backed by AI, Jagran uses tools to enhance the user journey and editorial packaging:

• Predictive story scoring. 

• AI-driven content tagging. 

• Chatbots that surface content in various formats.

To build habits, Jagran deploys gamified content, calculators and tools, and topic-based micro-sites. These formats encourage registration and enable behaviour-driven personalisation. 

Registered users then receive personalised push notifications, WhatsApp and newsletter updates, and creator-led content.

The results: a 30% monthly increase in logged-in users and a 55% rise in returning users.

Next up: deeper chatbot integration and gamified premium content.

The Hindu prioritises structure, governance, consent in personalisation efforts

The Hindu’s personalisation system is built on structure and governance — not just algorithms.

“We have an AI officer because personalisation requires judgment,” explained Nagaraj Nagabhushan, vice president of data and analytics explained. “It’s about using AI to propose — not impose.”

Their personalisation initiatives include:

• AI-curated newsletters by interest. 

• Personalised e-paper summaries. 

• Reader-informed design features (dark mode, topic toggles).

The Hindu also prioritises consent. “Personalisation without permission erodes trust,” Nagaraj warned.

The Hindu recently launched a beta where e-paper readers can click “more like this” to receive recommended archival pieces tied to the article’s theme, enhancing long-tail engagement.

AI at the service of editorial and product teams at Amar Ujala

One of the clearest examples of AI-enabled personalisation came from Amar Ujala. Jaideep Karnik, digital head and editor of the legacy brand, walked the audience through multiple deployments — from real-time personalised quizzes to Sarthi, a GPT-powered chatbot that serves as a user’s “search charioteer” across Amar Ujala’s sprawling content ecosystem.

The most profound shift came from their AI anchor “Srishti,” which reads the news, generates real-time videos, and reduces production time overnight. Karnik noted: “This allowed us to free up human anchors for creative work — like explainers — while the routine updates went to AI.”

What’s more, these tools aren’t just publisher-centric; they are user-centric. The real-time quiz engine tailors itself to the article the reader is consuming, increasing dwell time and interactivity — in effect, a live conversation with the story.

Editorial personalisation with purpose at Indian Express

Nandagopal Rajan, chief operating officer of Indian Express Digital, offered a sharp take on how editorial judgement must lead AI, not follow it.

At Express, personalisation is used to “get the user to the story before the story gets cold.”

Their focus is on real-time user interest clustering. For example, if a user is reading about health insurance, the system is designed to surface related investigative journalism, explainer videos, and even e-paper supplements around finance or healthcare.

“The idea is not just algorithmic relevance — it’s journalistic responsibility,” Rajan said. “We are programming with purpose. If AI can serve both immediacy and depth, we have a fighting chance of building long-term trust.”

He also warned against the “lowest common denominator trap” of pure popularity rankings: “Our biggest win is when a user discovers something they didn’t know they needed.”

Prothom Alo layers personalisation from print to OTT

Jabed Sultan, chief digital business officer of Prothom Alo in Bangladesh, shared a compelling story of vertical integration and platform personalisation. From a successful e-paper product to Chorki, their rising OTT platform, Prothom Alo is creating ecosystem-wide audience funnels.

“We don’t just personalise headlines — we personalise entire experiences,” Sultan said. “The kind of content, notifications, or trailers you receive from Chorki are shaped by your interaction on our news site.”

A key part of their strategy is localised marketing. For one campaign, Prothom Alo created district-level digital campaigns based on regional consumption patterns. This allowed them to push subscription content and OTT features tuned to local relevance.

“Our job,” Sultan said, “is not to chase users. It’s to make every click feel like home.” 

Filmwork’s personalisation in the marketing process

At Friday Filmworks, data-driven personalisation shines in the marketing process — not just post-release but even before full launch.

Their strategy includes creating multiple trailer and promo versions tailored to different audience segments and platforms using first-party data, AI, and ongoing performance analysis. This data-led marketing boosts viewer engagement and informs post-release research.

Wondrlab’s approach: Hyper-local data meets programmatic intent

At Wondrlab, the focus was on bundling intent-rich personalisation into campaign architecture. Their campaign with Luxor, targeting students in Class 6 and above with premium writing instruments, was laser-focused: precise geography, infrastructure mapping (e.g., school washrooms, auditoriums), and age segmentation.

It’s the kind of demographic precision that can be repurposed by publishers. Imagine targeting personalised educational content or financial literacy modules to specific schools or districts based on curriculum calendars or socio-economic data.

Print and personalisation, an unexpected alliance

One might assume that personalisation belongs to the digital world alone. But print, too, is learning to adapt.

IPG Mediabrands reported strategic initiatives such as adding QR codes in print ads to enable data collection and targeting. Campaigns like Century Mattress’s Olympics tie-up exemplified “moment marketing” — timed print ads after Indian victories, linking sports performance with better sleep. 

Personalisation, in this context, is about contextual alignment — making the reader feel like the ad or story was crafted with them in mind.

Conclusion: from mass media to my media

The INMA South Asia News Media Conference made one truth inescapably clear: Personalisation is not a sidecar to the news business — it is the new engine. Whether through AI-enhanced content experiences, dynamic homepages, intelligent chatbots, or data-powered advertising, South Asian publishers are reimagining their relationships with audiences at every level.

No longer satisfied with generic reach, the most forward-thinking media companies are pursuing precision, habit, and emotional resonance. From Dream11’s orchestrated user journeys to HT’s gamified news ecosystem, from The Hindu’s principled data governance to Amar Ujala’s live quiz integration, personalisation is moving beyond automation and toward intimacy — at scale.

What’s emerging is a bold new contract between publisher and audience: a promise to listen, to adapt, to recommend, and to reward. South Asia’s media leaders are not simply reacting to global trends — they are redefining them in their own context. And as this wave of personalisation continues to build, one thing is certain: Relevance will belong to those who personalise not just with algorithms, but with intent, integrity, and imagination.

This article was written with the assistance of AI tools. All content has been reviewed and edited by a human editor to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.

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