ZEE5 reappoints Tejkarran Singh Bajaj as business head, AI and innovation

MUMBAI: In a move that feels more like a successful sequel than a fresh casting call, ZEE5 has appointed Tejkarran Singh Bajaj as business head, AI and innovation, bringing a familiar face back to the platform as it deepens its focus on technology, content innovation and digital growth.

Bajaj returns to ZEE5 after concluding a seven-and-a-half-year journey with Jio Studios, where he most recently served as SVP and head of originals. His appointment comes at a time when streaming platforms are increasingly looking beyond content libraries and investing in artificial intelligence, personalisation and audience engagement tools to stand out in a crowded OTT market.

The media executive brings more than two decades of experience across television, digital media, branded content and streaming. Over the years, he has built a reputation for combining creative storytelling with commercial strategy, helping businesses scale content operations while keeping a close eye on audience behaviour and monetisation opportunities.

At Jio Studios, Bajaj led the creative, commercial and strategic direction of the originals business. As SVP and head of originals, he oversaw development, production, licensing, partnerships and monetisation across a multilingual slate of premium content. During his tenure, he helped build and scale the originals vertical into a major content engine, strengthening Jio Studios’ position in India’s fast-growing OTT ecosystem.

His portfolio included more than 50 original shows across genres and languages, including titles such as Inspector Avinash, Doctors, Apharan 2, Code M 2, Bajao, Sangamarmar and Magic of Shiri. He also led the development of upcoming projects featuring actors such as Kay Kay Menon, Ashutosh Rana, Mona Singh, Tanvi Azmi, Randeep Hooda, Divyendu Sharma and Ravi Kishan.

In a recent LinkedIn post marking his departure from Jio Studios, Bajaj described the company as a defining chapter of his professional life. Reflecting on the journey, he expressed gratitude to colleagues, partners and collaborators who helped shape the originals business over the years. He also acknowledged the support of Jyoti Deshpande, crediting her trust, guidance and leadership as instrumental in making the experience meaningful.

This is not Bajaj’s first stint with ZEE5. Between 2017 and 2018, he served as head of original content during the platform’s formative years. In that role, he led content strategy, development and execution across six languages and built the creative and production ecosystem that helped define ZEE5’s early identity in India’s streaming market.

He commissioned and launched more than 25 originals, including Karenjit Kaur, Rangbaaz, Lockdown, Life Sahi Hai 2, Kallachirippu and B.Tech. He also built a 20-member cross-language creative and production team spanning Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali content.

Before entering the OTT space, Bajaj spent more than four years at Maxus, where he led content strategy and branded entertainment initiatives for major brands including Vodafone, Tata Motors, L’Oréal Paris, Myntra, HDFC Life, Starbucks and LinkedIn. His work included award-winning intellectual properties such as TVF Tripling with Tiago, Women of Worth, Vodafone Superfan and Meet Me at Starbucks.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a creative consultant on several popular television formats and served as a producer at NDTV. There, he was part of the launch team behind NDTV Metronation, India’s first metro-focused lifestyle channel, overseeing content production across lifestyle, food, technology and documentary programming.

His return to ZEE5 is widely seen as a strategic appointment as the platform seeks to strengthen the intersection of content, technology and business growth. With artificial intelligence increasingly influencing content discovery, viewer engagement and monetisation strategies, Bajaj’s blend of creative leadership and commercial experience could prove particularly valuable.

For ZEE5, the appointment brings back an executive who helped shape its early content journey. For Bajaj, it marks the beginning of another chapter, one where storytelling and technology are set to share the spotlight.