Hakuhodo Data Labs has unveiled AI Agentic Flows on its self-serve omni-channel media optimiser, e-Genie. The company is positioning it as a tool aimed at reshaping how brands manage commerce advertising across marketplaces and quick commerce platforms.
The new feature automates budget reallocation, bid adjustments, and SKU management by drawing on real-time sales and reviews data to improve conversion potential. Designed to reduce manual interventions, it promises efficiency gains in return on investment and quicker, data-led decision-making.
Hakuhodo claimed that e-Genie already incorporates a wide set of capabilities, including bulk actions, day-part bidding, digital shelf intelligence and real-time dashboards. The addition of AI Agentic Flows is expected to deliver performance improvements of over 15% and reduce manual reporting time by 30%, according to the company.
Shweta Sharma, CEO of Hakuhodo Data Labs India, explained that brands are under constant pressure to make every rupee work harder, especially in fast-moving marketplaces and quick commerce. “By marrying automation with intelligence, we are giving marketers the power to optimise in real time, focus on strategy, and most importantly, unlock growth without being buried in operational tasks,” she stated.
A regional bet on India’s commerce growth
Hakuhodo positioned the launch as part of its wider push to develop scalable martech solutions tailored for mobile-first, commerce-heavy markets.
Kosuke Kataoka, managing director, Hakuhodo India and regional chief operating officer for India, Middle East and Africa, Hakuhodo International, said, “AI Agentic Flows reflects Hakuhodo’s commitment to reimagining the future of media. Markets across Asia, especially India, are mobile-first and commerce-driven, demanding solutions that are agile, scalable, and ROI-focused. With e-Genie, we are uniting data, creativity, and AI to help brands succeed in the most competitive environments.”
Positioned as a platform-agnostic SaaS tool, e-Genie seeks to unify campaigns across commerce platforms by automating clerical tasks, connecting advertising and digital shelf data, and generating insights that can be applied to pricing and promotion strategies.
Hakuhodo Inc launched Hakuhodo Data Labs India in August 2024 as part of its global network expansion, appointing Sharma as CEO. Sharma, who was earlier chief business officer at AdGlobal360 India, has worked extensively on ecommerce analytics and optimisation tools.
e-Genie itself was incubated through collaborations between Hakuhodo Japan and AdGlobal360 Innovation Lab, with global consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands involved in pilot phases. Early implementations reported an 18% uplift in Return on Advertising Spend (RoAS). Building on this, the company has said it will expand into adjacent product areas, including analytics and media optimisation tailored for enterprises.
Context within Hakuhodo India
Hakuhodo India, established in 2000, operates as an integrated marketing solutions company with agencies including Hakuhodo.Sync, Hakuhodo.Lync, Hakuhodo.Wyng and MA+TH. Its network also spans AdGlobal360, Hakuhodo Digital, PMG and Hakuhodo Data Labs. With six offices and more than 1,700 staff, the company provides services spanning consulting, creative, digital, experiential, content and AI-driven technologies. Its operations remain anchored in Hakuhodo’s sei-katsu-sha philosophy, which emphasises consumer insight as a foundation for creativity and innovation.
The launch comes at a time when India’s quick commerce and marketplace sectors are becoming central to brand strategies. While advertising budgets continue to shift toward these platforms, marketers are grappling with rising competition and the challenge of extracting measurable returns. Automation tools such as e-Genie represent an attempt to bridge the gap between campaign execution and commerce outcomes.
By focusing on AI-powered flows that continuously adapt to real-time signals, Hakuhodo is betting that efficiency, rather than scale alone, will define competitive advantage in marketplace advertising. Whether this approach sets a broader benchmark for the industry will depend on adoption rates and demonstrable long-term ROI.
For brands and agencies, the question is not just about adding another optimisation tool but about how such platforms can reduce operational complexity while still delivering differentiated insights in a crowded commerce ecosystem.