You’ve heard of LLMs, agentic AI, and synthetic personas. But can any of them explain why your campaign CTR still hovers at 0.9%?
Let’s be honest.
AI is everywhere — in pitch decks, in team stand-ups, in that one LinkedIn post your ex wrote about “replacing inefficiencies with intelligence.” 🙄
But ask your average marketer in India to define “transformer architecture” and they’ll nod vaguely before switching to the “chai break” tab.
So if you’ve ever:
- Pretended to understand “LLMOps”
- Used “agentic AI” in a presentation hoping no one would ask
- Googled “synthetic persona” and ended up on a skincare site
…this glossary is for you.
Welcome to your no-jargon-but-full-drama guide to the wild A to Z of AI — lovingly filtered through a desi lens.
A is for Agentic AI
The self-starter intern you never hired. Does things without asking, like setting goals, planning campaigns, and possibly texting your client “Hey bestie, need inputs.”
Why you care:
It sounds cool, but also terrifying. Proceed with caution and override access.
A is also for AI Hallucination
When AI gets creative. Too creative.
Like confidently declaring that your brand launched in 1923 when it actually started in 2018 out of a WeWork pantry.
Why you care:
Because hallucinations in yoga are fine. Not in press releases.
B is for Black Box AI
Outputs look great. But no one, including the creator, knows how it got there.
Why you care:
If your AI tool sounds like your astrologer (“just trust me beta”), we have a transparency problem.
C is for Chatbot
The relative of Clippy from Microsoft Word. Sometimes helpful. Mostly enthusiastic and confused.
Why you care:
You can’t put a chatbot in charge of crisis communication. It will just say “I’m sorry you feel that way” in four languages.
C is also for Chain-of-Thought Prompting
Getting AI to show its work. Like CBSE long-answer style.
Why you care:
Helps when you need strategy, not just sassy one-liners.
D is for Dynamic Pricing
When AI adjusts prices in real time. Blink and your ₹399 kurti is now ₹749.
Why you care:
It’s great if you’re the seller. Not so much when your cart total jumps mid-scroll.
E is for Explainable AI (XAI)
A dream. A myth. A marketing team’s wishlist.
Why you care:
You need to justify why your campaign targeted 50-year-old men in Punjab for vegan oat milk. XAI helps.
F is for Few-Shot Learning
AI learns with just a few examples. Like that one student who never studied but always topped.
Why you care:
Great for niche product copy or weird seasonal campaigns. (Pumpkin spice samosas, anyone?)
G is for Generative AI
The new intern who does everything: write captions, design banners, create awkward stock photos with 6-fingered models.
Why you care:
It speeds up creative — but still needs your human brain to fix tone, logic, and taste.
H is for Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)
Fancy term for “Please review before we go viral for the wrong reasons.”
Why you care:
This is YOU. Don’t skip this step.
I is for Intent Recognition
When AI guesses what someone really wants.
Why you care:
It’s the reason your ad for “holiday sarees” follows people searching for “how to quit corporate life.”
L is for LLM (Large Language Model)
The mega brain behind ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — trained on everything from Wikipedia to Reddit to probably your old blog.
Why you care:
It’s where the magic (and the mayhem) comes from.
P is for Prompt Engineering
Basically, the art of asking nicely — but to a robot.
Why you care:
If your prompt is vague, your output will be too. “Write something creative” is not a prompt. It’s a trap.
Prompt engineering may be the new Excel; not particularly glamorous, definitely misunderstood, and absolutely essential if you’d prefer your AI output didn’t sound like a confused intern channeling a horoscope column.
S is for Synthetic Personas
AI-generated customer profiles. Very realistic. Zero complaints. No chai breaks.
Why you care:
Use with real feedback. Otherwise, you’ll be designing for “Ravi, 42, enjoys crypto and kombucha.”
W is for Watermarking
Invisible tags to say “this was AI-generated.” Like leaving your chappal outside a temple — just so people know.
Why you care:
Helps you avoid copyright trouble and content confusion. Also, it’s coming to platforms near you.
Final Thought: A for AI. B for Breathe.
AI is moving fast. You don’t have to keep up with every trend. Just enough to not embarrass yourself during the next strategy call.
Remember:
- Know the basics
- Question the buzzwords
- Ask why before you automate
- And if something sounds like nonsense… it probably is
Sources You Can Casually Reference (Over Coffee)
- Baker, Jenni. “The Marketer’s No-Nonsense A to Z Guide to All Things AI,”
The Drum, April 7, 2025.
https://www.thedrum.com - “Artificial Intelligence Marketing,”
Wikipedia, 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_marketing