Writing in The Times of India, Nicole Junkermann, founder of NJF Holdings, argues that artificial intelligence will make the entertainment industry more human, not less. Her case, published on 19 June 2026, is that as AI drives the cost of producing content towards zero, the scarce and valuable commodity becomes something machines can’t manufacture: genuine connection between audiences and the businesses that serve them.
“AI is going to make content more accessible than ever before,” she writes. “But when content becomes abundant, people start looking for something technology can’t easily create.”
The scale of the shift is considerable. AI is already embedded across entertainment, from recommendation engines and localisation tools to generative video and automated editing, and PwC projects the global entertainment and media industry will exceed US$3.4 trillion in revenue by 2028. The result, Nicole Junkermann argues, is a paradox: content becomes easier to produce but harder to make meaningful. The winners won’t be the companies that create the most; they’ll be the ones that build the strongest relationships with their audiences.
That’s the argument for India. The FICCI-EY Media & Entertainment Report puts India’s media and entertainment sector at roughly Rs 2.5 trillion in 2024, with digital media overtaking television as its largest segment for the first time. The country has more than 900 million internet users, one of the world’s youngest populations and, according to Boston Consulting Group, at least 2.5 million content creators.
But the numbers alone aren’t the point. What distinguishes India, in Nicole Junkermann’s view, is the depth of audience engagement. From Bollywood and regional cinema to cricket, gaming and digital creators, Indian entertainment has always been participatory: something audiences discuss, celebrate and shape, rather than passively consume. That instinct for community is precisely the quality that becomes most valuable in an era of algorithmic abundance.
India also enters the AI transition with structural advantages few markets share simultaneously: world-class engineering talent, a fast-growing startup ecosystem and digital infrastructure that has already made it a global leader in areas such as payments. Many countries have creative talent, scale or advanced technology. Few combine all three.
“The more digital the world becomes, the more valuable authentic human experiences become,” she writes. “People will always want to belong to something bigger than themselves.”
The argument reflects the thinking behind The Human Code, the framework that underpins investment activity across NJF Capital and Gameday by NJF Holdings.
Read the full article at The Times of India: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/why-indias-creator-economy-is-built-for-the-ai-era-of-2026-nicole-junkermann-founder-of-njf-holdings/articleshow/131831287.cms