The next wave of India’s digital economy raises a different set of questions: who controls the layers through which consumers discover apps, access services and make payments? And how can India build for the next 500 million users without relying on assumptions about what they want or can afford?

At TechSparks 2026, Priya Narasimhan, Chief Business Officer at Indus Appstore, and Sagar Gaonkar, CTO of Eloelo Group, explored these questions and more.

India’s digital economy is seeing growth across categories such as hyperlocal entertainment, utilities and AI, Narasimhan observed. Alongside payments and subscriptions, there is growing demand for services tailored to local needs, including micro dramas and tools that support MSME digitisation. For platforms, this points to a changing consumer: someone who wants digital services but expects them to be relevant to their local context and offer value.

Gaonkar sees micro dramas as an example of this shift. Unlike content watched collectively, these are designed around individual preferences, devices, and viewing habits. And AI is changing both how such content is created and how it reaches audiences. “ With so much content getting created, we have to answer the problem of what should be created. I have to address both quality and quantity,” he explained. 

On the supply side, AI can help platforms assess which content is likely to work before committing production resources. However, even as AI makes content creation more scalable, budgets remain limited, making it important to identify promising ideas early. On the consumption side, personalisation becomes crucial as the volume of content grows.

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