MICA roundtable finds creativity and culture emerging as key differentiators in an AI-first world

27^th February, 2026, New Delhi: As artificial intelligence becomes deeply embedded across industries, a high-level roundtable hosted by MICA in New Delhi surfaced a clear fault line in how leaders view the future of work, markets, and innovation between rapid AI adoption and the enduring importance of human creativity and organizational culture.

The roundtable, titled “Creativity and Culture in an AI-First World: Learn, Create, Connect & Evolve,” brought together senior leaders from industry, academia, media, and technology to debate whether AI capability alone will determine success, or whether imagination and culture will ultimately shape competitive advantage.

Live research conducted during the session revealed that 70% of participants believed creativity and imagination; not AI adoption, will decide market share in an AI-first marketplace, while only 30% viewed AI adoption as the primary differentiator. A similar trend emerged when participants were asked what organizations must prioritize to unlock AI’s true value: 75% voted for organizational cultural change over AI integration across functions.

The findings pointed to a growing consensus that as AI tools become widely accessible, technology will soon turn into a hygiene factor. Differentiation, participants argued, will increasingly come from how organizations apply human judgment, creativity, emotional intelligence, and cultural context to AI-driven outputs.

Looking at the findings, Jaya Deshmukh, Director & CEO of MICA, said, “We are moving from the Information Age to the Imagination Age. While AI gives us instant access to knowledge, it lacks context, emotion, and culture. That is where human creativity still matters and it’s what will allow our workforce to thrive in a world where machines can do almost everything.”

The discussion also highlighted the broader societal and ethical implications of generative AI, particularly its impact on information systems, creativity, and trust.

Vivian Schiller, Vice President and Executive Director of Aspen Digital, remarked, “Generative AI is a breakthrough that will shape our entire information ecosystem, creating a radical transformation of user behavior. It is not just one tech company or platform; it is a whole new technology that demands we work together to create standard ethical guidelines and ensure it supplements, rather than replaces, the human spirit.”

The roundtable concluded with a shared view that AI will continue to evolve quickly, but organizations that combine technology with strong creative thinking and people-led cultures are more likely to stay relevant.Participants repeatedly talked about that AI excelling at optimization and scale, but meaning, originality, and cultural relevance continue to be uniquely human strengths. The debate ultimately converged on a shared view: the future belongs not to AI alone, but to organizations that can fuse technological power with human creativity, ethical thinking, and adaptive cultures.