A 21st-century Diwali in 2025 would be incomplete without a significant touch of AI brightening up our festivities. As per the 2025 Festive Season Report by Integral Ad Sciences, during prime festive shopping moments, including Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratras, and Diwali, spilling into holiday buying around Christmas, consumers are starting to explore utilising AI tools to help in their shopping for the season. As many as 87% are open to using AI tools to help in their shopping, 32% plan to use AI tools in researching online for product and gift ideas.
The shift has been happening for some years now. The Maharashtra government in 2022 sent nearly 40 million personalised video greetings in Marathi to residents across the state, addressed from then chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Gifting & greetings
Greeting cards with AI generated, Diwali themed designs and backgrounds have found a lot of pull with consumers, given that several AI design websites including PhotoGPT offer specific themed designs during this festival. AI design websites are all running special Diwali marketing lines, including Canva, Varnz, Freepik, and Adobe.
Not just that, but gifting websites will also leverage AI to personalise Diwali gifts, be it design or a picture or name embossed on the product, or even colour customisations. Gifting websites allow consumers to view the product exactly as it will be delivered, before placing the order. When buying clothes, showpieces, furniture or decor, certain websites use AR to allow the consumer to see what the product would look like in their living spaces—the height or width of the product, the space it would occupy, its aesthetic appeal in a realistic view and more.
Supriya Singh, 36, resident of Kolkata describes her festive days around Diwali as ‘practised chaos’, balancing prayers to rituals and decorations. One thing she does not have to worry about or spend on are the Diwali greetings that must go out to each and every family member and friend. “For the past couple of years, we have been sending AI designed e-vites to our friends and family for our Diwali get-togethers,” she shares. “Rather than making calls and going through the process of formally asking people to attend, we can not only simply forward them on Whatsapp, but we can customise them with family pictures and festive backgrounds and mass forward them to family and friends.”
Making corporates happy
Several companies and big corporations are using AI platforms for Diwali gifts to employees. Platforms like AdvantageClub.ai make this process user-friendly and convenient. AdvantageClub.ai is a global AI-powered employee engagement, rewards, and wellness platform with offerings like OPD plans, annual health checkup, wellness challenges, sales incentive automation, flexible benefits. Rather than budgeting for the same gifts across the board, AdvantageClub.ai allows for customisation, a range of choices, as well as other options to make it a better experience for employees, while also maintaining a budget cap for the sake of the company.
The platform has a Diwali campaign called ‘My Gift, My Choice’ which now has enhanced flexibility and enhanced gifting options among other features. With AdvantageClub, companies can make space for personalisation of gifts, moving away from the one-size-fits-all policy commonly followed in corporate Diwalis. From gift cards and curated products to global brand vouchers – employees have the freedom to choose. Last year the campaign had a 92% redemption rate.
Artificial intelligence can help chart Diwali trends, predict consumer preferences as well as track satisfaction rates to drive future business decisions.
Gods in Cloud
The Shubh Diwali mobile app for Android which released in 2018 is an online Diwali guide for all, with its latest updates including AI since 2024. This app will present the user with an updated Diwali calendar, dates for puja, list of all Diwali muhurtas or auspicious times, lyrics to relevant bhajans, rangoli ideas, mantras for different goddesses, suggestions for rituals and more. With over 10,000 downloads already, several families are celebrating Diwali with the aid of this app. Platforms like like OnlinePuja.com and RudraRatna.com give recommendations, provide live translation of chants and allow family members living away to partake in the rituals.
Festive mood
“This Diwali I have tried on many accessories, sunglasses to clothes on virtual try-on features,” says Jagriti Bhardwaj, a 31-year-old Delhi resident, who says she can avoid Diwali traffic and crowds with these AI features.
Other features like smart lighting systems now allow users to control and regulate lighting with settings for different patterns and brightnesses. AI coordinated facade lighting elevates a space during festivities, with brands offering various types of smart lightning. For instance, Philips released an AI driven smart lighting system for Diwali in 2023.
“We have smart lights in various parts of our house,” says Suresh Kumar, 38-year-old from Delhi. “The AI system allows you to regulate the lighting as per mood. It is not only more beautiful and adds a festive touch, with colours and patterns, besides being practical,” says Kumar.
Artificial intelligence is contributing to safety during Diwali as well. AI-enabled AQI monitors for indoor spaces or smaller areas can alert users when the air quality is dropping too low. These AQI monitors work on smart sensors that pick up data from pollutants . Some countries have also developed AI-enabled devices and sensors to identify illegal firecrackers being burnt and might be put to use in India as well, considering the Supreme Court has called for a nationwide ban on crackers.
Last year, Burger King launched a fun AI-driven activity for consumers, giving them the opportunity to design their own firecracker inspired packaging for their food. Consumers would get to select from six popular Burger King items, and design an appropriate Diwali themed packaging, and then tag Burger King on that post with the campaign hashtag #BurgerKingSwaadkaPatakha.
Last Diwali, Samsung also came up with a Diwali campaign with their Samsung AI TV, “to bring a Diwali spark in the family”, as the tagline went.
It’s easy to imagine a future, where more aspects of this festive season will be bolstered if not ruled by artificial intelligence. From predicting trends, enhancing features on household electronics, launching more innovative themed offers based on customer preferences, better AI powered safety measures for the festival and more —AI is here for not just Diwali but year-round festivities.
