YouTube India bets on video commerce and CTV to reposition creators as retail infrastructure

Gunjan Soni is reframing YouTube India around shoppable video, 50-70M CTV households, and global creator reach, with 15,000 AI scholarships via MIB. The pitch: creators as distribution rails for Indian brands, not just media.

— Source publishedTue, 23 Jun, 2026, 12:42 IST·First seen Tue, 23 Jun, 2026, 12:46 IST·Source Forbes India

What happened

YouTube India head Gunjan Soni outlines strategy around video commerce, connected TV, and global creator reach, with AI skilling partnership with MIB offering

Key facts

  • 100 million channels
  • 650 million short-form users
  • 50-70 million CTV households
  • 15 percent content consumed abroad
  • 15,000 AI scholarships

Why this matters

Scout creator-commerce enablement targets (shoppable tooling, CTV ad-tech, creator MCNs) before YouTube's vertical integration closes the partnership window.