Madison's Sam Balsara on acquisitions, AI and why brand-building still matters

After decades of building Madison World, Sam Balsara says the future of advertising will belong to businesses that adapt quickly without losing sight of core brand-building principles. In this conversation, he discusses AI’s growing influence, the industry’s shift toward performance marketing, and how acquisitions and partnerships have helped drive Madison’s expansion over the years. Edited Excerpts: You’ve spent decades building Madison. What keeps you going even today?I think generally, advertising is addictive. Unless you have a very brief stint with it, most people who are into advertising are addicted to it. I think that, in short, is what keeps me going. Of course, I’m 75-plus, so it has indeed been a long journey. But when you have your own agency, it becomes a little more difficult to simply give up on it.What is the one thing that keeps you up at night about the business today?In the current times, it is definitely the level of change and the kind of new things happening in th