Where Innovation Meets Real Connections
ES. You have played a pivotal role in shaping Comexposium India’s presence and leading platforms like ad:tech and iMedia – can you take us through your professional journey and the key milestones that defined your leadership in the exhibitions industry?
Jaswant Singh. It’s been an incredible ride since 2011, mostly because we were fortunate to have a front-row seat to the most aggressive tech shift in history. We started when digital was just a conversation on the sidelines. Since then, we’ve had to constantly evolve alongside the industry moving from the early days of mobile and apps to the complexities of programmatic and now, of course, AI.
Every year the goal has been simple: stay relevant. If an innovation is being discussed ‘onstage’ in our keynotes, it needs to be visible and tangible ‘on the expo floor.
Every year we spend a lot of time trying to understand Whats New, Whats important, What challenges remain and try to address them at our events At ad:tech, we’ve attracted a marketing community of 5000–6,000 leaders, not just from India, but from around the globe. It’s become a platform where the most influential voices share insights and major players make big announcements or launch new products. We’ve been fortunate to have strong support from the industry from the Tech titans and traditional brands to the newest startups and their willingness to grow with us is what allows us to keep planning these ambitious events. I’m particularly proud of the countless partnerships we’ve enabled that translate into real business growth.
It’s heartening when clients tell us about the partners they found or the learnings that helped fine-tune their marketing strategies.
ES. With the exhibition and conference industry rapidly evolving, how do you see platforms like ad:tech and iMedia adapting to changing audience expectations, especially in a digital-first and experience-driven ecosystem?
Jaswant Singh. When we started, digital ad spends was barely 1% of the pie. Today, it’s nearing 60%. That shift alone has dictated how we adapt. We try to lead conversations before they become mainstream so our partners aren’t just catching up they’re prepared.
We use two distinct formats to serve brands, agencies, publishers, and technology providers as they come together to explore the future of marketing:
- ad:tech: Our annual high-energy trade show (conference + exhibition) where the marketing community finds what’s coming next.
- iMedia Summits: More intimate, 3-day senior-level residential summits focused on deep strategic networking. These summits have also been running for 15 years now in India. Crucially, we’ve moved beyond just the 2/3 days’ of an event. We continue to engage our community through the year.
Through our ‘Leadership Lens’ interview series, we talk to industry leaders constantly to stay under the hood of the business. We also host smaller, focused meetups and our annual ‘Drivers of Growth’ report, which maps out CMO priorities for the year ahead.
This continuous dialogue ensures we aren’t just guessing what the industry needs we are building with them. This year, that focus is clearly on AI: how it enables deeper human connections, scales creative at speed, and finally drives measurable results.
ES. Sustainability is becoming a critical focus across global exhibitions – how is Comexposium India integrating sustainable practices into its events, and what challenges do you foresee in making large-scale exhibitions more environmentally responsible?
Jaswant Singh. Sustainability is a journey we take very seriously. We’re lucky to be hosted at Yashobhoomi, which is a world-class green venue, and that gives us a great head start. Practically speaking, we’re focusing on things that make a real dent:
- Going Paperless: We’ve moved to 100% digital registrations and use our event app for all information.
- Smart Stalls: We encourage exhibitors to move away from ‘build-and-burn’ setups toward reusable pre-fab expo stalls.
- Logistics & Waste: The direct Metro connectivity to Yashobhoomi is a big part of our strategy to encourage attendees to skip the car and reduce the event’s carbon footprint. We’re also tackling plastics by replacing bottles with water stations and prioritizing recycling
ES. India is witnessing significant growth in the marketing, media, and MICE sectors what
opportunities do you see emerging for exhibition organizers, and how can they create more value for exhibitors and attendees?
Jaswant Singh. In a world where we’re all glued to screens or stuck in Zoom meetings, meeting face-to-face has never felt more important. Real connections are made in person, and events have become even more important. While technology allows us to exchange data, it is the physical environment of an exhibition or conference that facilitates the building of trust, rapport, and the kind of connections that a Zoom window simply cannot replicate. For exhibition organizers, the primary opportunity today lies in curating these high-value human experiences.
Right now India is a global bright spot, and that creates a massive opportunity for the MICE sector. We are in a unique position: we have the world’s youngest and most ambitious workforce—people who are tech-native by birth but hungry for growth by choice. In a complex global landscape, India has become the bridge. We have the sophisticated talent to lead global boardrooms and the local grit to win in ‘Bharat.’ For any brand looking to build for the next decade, the question is no longer ‘Why India?’—it is ‘How fast can we scale here?’
However, people’s time is more precious than ever. We’ve are seeing a shift from the ‘come and discover’ model toward something much more personalized. The future of MICE is about helping an attendee plan their journey: ‘Based on your needs, here is exactly what is relevant for you.’ At the end of the day, ROI is what matters. Our job is to make sure our products stay aligned with what the market needs.
