Robots steal the show as WPP Media and JioStar host innovation day

MUMBAI: Two hundred-odd people packed a room and, remarkably, nobody left after lunch. That was the real headline from the WPP Media x JioStar Media Innovation Day, where a full house stuck around, engaged and curious, in a rare show of appetite for learning over networking small talk.

Niraj Ruparel ran the day’s Mystery MeetUp session on the creative use of robotics, ditching decks and long talks for pure live interaction. Attendees swarmed the robot, poked at its capabilities and reacted in real time, turning what could have been a dry tech demo into the day’s undisputed highlight.

The takeaway was simple: technology lands differently when it stops being a slide and starts being an experience. Fun moments aside, the session sparked genuine curiosity about what the machines could actually do.

For Ruparel, the day reinforced a broader conviction: the future of the media and marketing ecosystem will not be built in silos, but co-created by partners willing to experiment and push boundaries together, with JioStar and WPP Media, alongside Kevin Vaz and Prasanth Kumar, credited for putting the day together.

The robots may have stolen the spotlight, but the real story is an industry rediscovering its appetite to sit still, pay attention and learn something new.