MAM
JioHotstar hires top tech leaders to boost AI-powered streaming
Senior leaders from Google, Flipkart, CRED and others join as platform bets on personalisation and scale
MUMBAI: JioHotstar is bulking up its technology muscle, snapping up senior talent from Google, Flipkart, Amazon Pay, CRED and other consumer-tech names as it pivots towards AI-driven, personalised streaming at scale. The hiring spree signals a clear shift: the streaming wars are no longer just about content, but about intelligence, discovery and monetisation.
The platform said it is strengthening product leadership and engineering depth to build what it calls the next phase of “intelligent, personalised streaming”. The new team spans discovery, viewer experience, marketing intelligence, adtech and platform engineering, areas increasingly critical as competition intensifies.
Among the key hires, Shrinivas SG joins as svp for discovery and personalisation. Previously at Flipkart, Shrinivas SG worked across search, catalogue and trends, and helped build GenAI-powered conversational commerce with a focus on vernacular, voice and video-led discovery.
Naveen Prashanth comes in as svp for consumer marketing from Google, where he led YouTube Shorts, creator and artist marketing in India, driving brand, performance and monetisation at scale. Earlier, he worked at McKinsey & Company advising FMCG and B2C firms on growth and transformation.
On the engineering side, Abhishek Sharan joins as svp for engineering, viewer experience. With over 15 years’ experience, he has built and scaled high-traffic consumer platforms across the Flipkart group and Myntra, working on search, recommendations, applications, advertising systems and trust and safety. Most recently, he was head of engineering at SuperMoney.
Adtech gets a boost with Abhishek Varshney as principal engineer. He arrives from CRED after nearly five years building payments, ordering and financial engineering products. His earlier stints include Razorpay and Flipkart, where he worked on application and infrastructure platforms.
The wider product and engineering bench is reinforced by Chandramauli Singh and Nishant Paliwal, from ShareChat and Cleartrip respectively, bringing expertise in recommendation systems, scalable architectures and user engagement frameworks. Chandramauli Singh also joins the product team.
The data backbone is being tightened too. David Zakkam had earlier joined to lead analytics and data strategy, pushing data-led decision-making across the platform. The latest appointments were shared internally, underlining a sustained focus on tech capability.
At the group level, JioStar recently brought in Emmy Award-winner Stephen Bugaj as svp for GenAI content and technology, with a mandate spanning intelligent content pipelines, interactive storytelling and scalable creative frameworks.
Scale is already on JioHotstar’s side. The platform claims 450 million monthly average users and a library exceeding 300,000 hours of programming across 19 languages, covering films, originals, live sport, events, anime, kids’ content and shows from more than 100 JioStar channels.
As streaming matures, the battleground is shifting from who has the most titles to who knows the viewer best. JioHotstar’s message is blunt: in the attention economy, algorithms are as important as actors. And the next big hits may be coded as much as they are created.
MAM
Hinduja Leyland Finance partners with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India
NBFC and two-wheeler giant team up to make financing smoother across India.
MUMBAI: Hinduja Leyland Finance has just revved up a promising partnership because when wheels meet wallets, even the potholes start smiling. Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd (HLF), a leading vehicle financing NBFC under the Hinduja Group, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI). The partnership will offer customised financing solutions across Honda’s range of motorcycles and scooters, aiming to deliver a seamless purchase experience with transparent, swift and flexible loan options.
With its strong presence in both urban and rural markets and an extensive branch network, HLF brings deep expertise in two-wheeler financing and customer-centric solutions. The tie-up is expected to enhance accessibility to mobility, particularly in high-growth and emerging markets.
Hinduja Leyland Finance MD & CEO Sachin Pillai said, “This MoU marks a significant step in strengthening our market presence and expanding our reach across key markets. We expect this collaboration will play an important role in driving responsible growth and supporting the evolving mobility needs across the country.”
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India director of sales and marketing Mutsuo Usui added, “This partnership reflects our focus on improving access to mobility by making financing simpler and more inclusive.”
The collaboration underscores both organisations’ commitment to accelerating two-wheeler penetration in India while delivering enhanced value and convenience to customers.
In the world of two-wheelers, where every journey begins with a dream and a down payment, Hinduja Leyland Finance and Honda have just made sure the road to ownership feels a little less bumpy and a lot more exciting.
