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From payments to media: What Razorpay's ChatGPT ads play really changes
exchange4media on Razorpay selling ChatGPT Ads to Indian brands through Razorpay Engage - with our co-founder on what is new in it and what is not.
What the piece covers
On 5 October 2026 Razorpay partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT Ads to Indian brands through Razorpay Engage, and the piece asks whether a payments company is wandering up the advertising value chain. It sets the move against the money: India's digital advertising market at Rs 71,621 crore in 2025, e-retail advertising up 55.9% to Rs 17,601 crore, and commerce advertising forecast to grow 27% in 2026, each figure attributed in the article.
Our co-founder and CEO Viren Inaniyan is quoted on what is and is not new. The article carries his view, as reported speech, that catalogue-based campaigns and self-serve access already exist, so the advertising service itself shows limited demonstrated technical novelty, and that the real distinction is operational: Razorpay is offering campaign execution and optimisation, work usually done by a marketing agency. The piece notes Razorpay and OpenAI were already collaborating further down the funnel on agentic payments and ChatGPT storefronts.
The other voices (tgthr, Stratpulse Labs, Pulp Strategy) land close to where we do: the mechanism is familiar, the market around it is moving fast, and an ad can buy presence but not the recommendation. The article names us as Tru Commerce.
On the record
“limited demonstrated technical novelty”
Viren Inaniyan, co-founder & CEO - on the advertising service itself, since catalogue-based campaigns and self-serve access already exist
“taking on functions typically associated with a marketing agency”
On the operational distinction: Razorpay offering campaign execution and optimisation