Brands
JioStar appoints Stephan Bugaj to power AI push in entertainment
MUMBAI: JioStar Group is doubling down on artificial intelligence as the next frontier of entertainment. The media and sports giant has appointed Emmy Award winner Stephan Bugaj as senior vice-president, genAI content and technology, tasking him with shaping AI-native experiences and next-generation storytelling for digital-first audiences .
The hire signals a sharper tilt towards intelligent content pipelines, interactive formats and scalable creative frameworks that allow faster experimentation and deeper audience engagement. JioStar wants AI not as garnish but as infrastructure.
Bugaj arrives from Genvid Entertainment, where as chief creative officer he co-developed the Massively Interactive Live Event format, a blend of streaming, gaming and live audience participation. He also built AI-native creative tools for filmmakers and, as creator-showrunner, led interactive productions mixing real-time engagement with premium narrative, pushing the boundaries of intelligent media.
With more than 30 years across technology and creative leadership, Bugaj has held senior roles at DJ2 Entertainment, Pixar Animation Studios, Telltale Games and Hanson Robotics. His work ranges from AI-driven content systems and adaptive narratives to digital production pipelines and immersive platforms, all geared towards expanding creative possibilities.
JioStar has already been seeding AI across its businesses through conversational interfaces, second-screen engagement layers and AI-assisted workflows. Bugaj’s arrival is expected to accelerate innovation in interactive formats built for scale. The company frames the move as part of a broader ambition to influence the future of global entertainment .
JioStar’s reach gives it a large canvas. Its television network and streaming service together touch more than 750 million viewers weekly across markets, making it one of the biggest distribution machines in media.
The bet is straightforward: as screens multiply and attention fragments, smarter content wins. In the race between algorithms and imagination, JioStar is wagering that the two, fused well, can turn viewers into participants and stories into living systems. The show, it seems, is learning to think.
Brands
MakeMyTrip partners with OpenAI to boost AI-powered travel planning
Conversational AI now guides travellers from inspiration straight to booking
GURUGRAM: MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, has teamed up with OpenAI to bring a fresh twist to AI-driven travel planning. The collaboration integrates OpenAI’s APIs into MakeMyTrip’s app, making it easier than ever for travellers to move from chatting about dream trips to booking them.
The move centres around MakeMyTrip’s Myra interface, a GenAI trip planning assistant that now handles over 50,000 conversations a day in languages ranging from English and Hindi to Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. Myra helps travellers explore options, create itineraries and book flights, hotels and extras without the usual hassle of searching and filtering.
MakeMyTrip co-founder and group CEO Rajesh Magow said, “With OpenAI, we turn curiosity into confident decisions. When travellers start their journey through conversation, MakeMyTrip becomes a seamless extension of that discovery process. AI combined with our travel data makes it possible to deliver personalised, bookable options at scale.”
OpenAI managing director- international Oliver Jay added, “MakeMyTrip is showing how AI can make travel planning feel more like a conversation than a chore. Advanced AI isn’t just about back-end efficiencies, it’s about transforming the way travellers experience and engage with the platform.”
MakeMyTrip has long invested in AI across the travel lifecycle, from inspiration and discovery to booking and post-sales support. Nearly half of Myra’s queries now come from tier-2 and smaller cities, and voice interactions are booming outside metros, making AI travel assistance more accessible than ever.
With this partnership, MakeMyTrip is not just keeping up with AI trends, it’s aiming to lead the way, turning every traveller’s whim into a smooth, bookable adventure.
