--> AI is the backbone of everything we do: Meta’s Arun Srinivas

AI is the backbone of everything we do: Meta’s Arun Srinivas

Arun Srinivas, Director and Head of Ads Business at Meta India, spoke to e4m on how brands are riding on the AI wave, the rise of Reels, short-form video content, and much more

by Team PITCH
Published - April 07, 2025
6 minutes To Read
e4m TechTalk with with Arun Srinivas, Director and Head - Ads Business, Meta for TechTalk

In a wide-ranging conversation for e4m’s TechTalk series, Arun Srinivas, Director and Head of Ads Business at Meta India, dived deep into how artificial intelligence was shaping the company’s platforms, user experiences, and advertising tools.

With a mix of lucid articulation and practical use cases, Srinivas painted a comprehensive picture of the “AI-first” future that Meta is accelerating toward — across products, advertising, content discovery, and business messaging.

“Meta has always been about AI,” Srinivas begins, positioning the technology not as a recent pivot but as a longstanding engine driving Meta’s operations. “The entire algorithm or the backbone of why your Instagram feed is different from mine is because of AI,” he explains. This fundamental insight — that personalisation is powered by AI — sets the tone for the conversation, one where Srinivas offers an insider's look at how Meta is weaving artificial intelligence into the fabric of its platforms.

One of the cornerstone AI initiatives at Meta is Llama — the large language model family that has seen immense adoption globally. “It’s an open-source platform,” Srinivas notes. “Companies across the globe, and in India, are using Llama to improve their business productivity.” He adds that the model has already been downloaded over a billion times, a staggering testament to its impact and accessibility.

Srinivas also shines a light on Meta AI, the personal assistant built into WhatsApp, Instagram, and even browsers like Safari and Chrome. Users can ask it for anything — from weather forecasts to travel advice — all within the apps themselves. According to Srinivas, more than 700 million people are already using Meta AI globally, and “that number’s only going to grow”.

Turning to content consumption, Srinivas describes how AI has revolutionized the Instagram experience. “More than half the content on Instagram today is not from people you follow,” he shares. This seismic shift is driven by AI’s ability to anticipate user interests and serve them relevant Reels and posts. “It’s a lot more like Netflix now,” he adds. “Even if you follow Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, you’ll get Reels from Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, or Yashasvi Jaiswal — because the system thinks you’ll like them.” To underscore AI’s influence, Srinivas recalls a recent cricket moment: “More people saw the Bumrah–Sam Curran spat on Instagram than on the streaming platform itself. It was over five to ten times the number.”

The conversation then veers into Meta’s bread and butter — advertising (always remember, “Senator, we sell ads”).

Srinivas lays out Meta’s Advantage Suite and Gen AI tools within Ads Manager, which are changing how advertisers craft campaigns. “More than four million businesses globally have used Gen AI to make ads,” he says, noting that users can perform everything from “minor tweaks to major expansions” — including generating entire ads complete with text, motion, and visuals.

These tools are especially resonant with small businesses. “Almost 95% of those 4 million advertisers are small businesses,” Srinivas says. He offers a vivid example: “Let’s say I run a nursery and I’m selling a plant. I can shoot it once but use Gen AI to change the background, show how it looks in your living room, and make it come alive.” He cites Big Basket’s first-time use of Gen AI, which led to a 3% drop in cost and a 3% boost in conversions. Across the board, average cost reductions hover around 12–13%, with similar improvements in click-through
rates.

AI is also deeply embedded in business messaging. “Today, more than a billion people message a business every week,” Srinivas notes. “It’s impossible to handle that volume without AI.” From chatbots that initiate conversations to routing customers to human agents, AI smooths the entire journey. Brands like Indigo and Air India are already leveraging these features. In some cases, agent AI is being explored for even more advanced support.

The integration of messaging with marketing is also gaining traction. Srinivas describes how brands like Mondelez and Colgate are using WhatsApp to bridge the gap between discovery and engagement. Mondelez’s Raksha Bandhan campaign allowed users to upload a photo with their sibling and get a personalized Cadbury gift, all via WhatsApp. Colgate’s dental screening initiative asked users to send in a picture of their teeth to receive a digital report card — a clever combination of personalization and utility.

In the auto sector, companies like MG Motors and Hero are using WhatsApp to recommend car models, book test drives, and locate dealers. “You no longer need to type out 7 PM or 6 PM,” Srinivas says. “There’s a dropdown for scheduling test drives. It’s all more seamless now.” Voice integration is also rising. PolicyBazaar uses voice routing to connect users with agents in their preferred regional language, with over 60–70% of calls happening in non-Hindi, non-English languages.

The conversation finally lands on the rise of Reels and short-form video content — a phenomenon that’s redefined content consumption in India. “We’ve all noticed that just like Indians wake up with good morning messages on WhatsApp, they wind down with Reels at night,” Srinivas quips. Over half the time spent on Instagram today is devoted to Reels, and Facebook Reels remains Meta’s largest service in India. “Indians love video. We don’t read as much as we watch.”

He explains that the allure lies in the algorithm’s ability to understand hyper-personal interests. “Whether you love gardening, cooking, or dogs, AI makes sure your Reels reflect that.” This diversity in interest has fueled a robust creator ecosystem, making content more relevant and sticky.

Srinivas also addresses the perception that Reels are popular only among urban youth. Citing a study by Kantar, he clarifies that usage spans all generations and geographies. “Whether it’s Gen X or Gen Z, urban or rural, everyone is spending more time on short-form content. The global average is close to four hours a day — compared to about one and a half hours of television — and in India, that gap is even wider.”

As the curtain falls on the conversation, one thing is clear: Meta’s AI-powered future is already here. And in Srinivas’ view, it’s only just getting started.

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