US-based media analytics company Nielsen is strengthening India’s position as a global centre for innovation, with Bengaluru emerging as its largest operational hub. The company employs more than 5,000 people in India, accounting for approximately half of its global workforce, and increasingly relies on its Indian teams to develop products and drive technological advancements.
According to a report by Daily Sun, citing Moneycontrol, nearly 75 per cent of Nielsen’s global innovation now originates in India. The company is expanding its use of artificial intelligence to improve advertising intelligence, automate data processing and measure audiences across an increasingly fragmented media landscape.
Nielsen Chief Technology Officer Anil Goel said the company aims to transform its Indian operations into a global innovation centre rather than follow the conventional global capability centre model. Under this approach, India-based teams take the lead in product development, make key decisions and work directly with international clients.
The strategy reflects the growing capabilities of India’s technology workforce and the country’s increasing importance in global product development. Although some markets generate higher revenues, Goel identified India as one of Nielsen’s top 10 markets in terms of growth potential, supported by its rapid expansion and strong technology talent base.
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in Nielsen’s advertising intelligence business, which tracks advertising expenditure across television, radio, newspapers, magazines and outdoor media in around 30 to 40 major markets, including India and the United States.
Previously, the company relied on a combination of automated systems and manual intervention to process advertising data. More than 1,000 employees were involved in resolving gaps that existing technologies could not address.
According to Goel, the introduction of AI and large language models has increased the proportion of work handled by machines in these areas from around 80–90 per cent to approximately 97–98 per cent. The shift is helping the company streamline operations, improve efficiency and reduce the need for extensive manual processing.
Nielsen is also looking to expand its presence in India following the addition of DoubleVerify, a company specialising in advertising verification and brand safety. The development could create further opportunities to strengthen its technology capabilities and broaden its offerings in the digital advertising ecosystem.
However, the rapid adoption of generative AI is also creating new challenges for traditional media measurement. The growing use of platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, alongside AI agents that help consumers discover information and make purchasing decisions, is changing how audiences interact with content and advertising.
These developments are forcing media analytics companies to rethink established measurement approaches and develop methods capable of capturing evolving patterns of consumer behaviour. Understanding how audiences engage with AI-powered platforms is likely to become increasingly important for advertisers seeking reliable insights into campaign performance.
Nielsen’s growing reliance on India highlights the country’s transition from a major technology services destination to a centre for global product leadership and innovation. With Bengaluru at the heart of its operations, the company is positioning its Indian workforce to play a central role in shaping the future of media measurement, advertising intelligence and AI-driven analytics.
