iWorld
Netflix appoints Rohit Suri as head of talent – India
Mumbai: Netflix has appointed Rohit Suri as head of talent – India. Suri will report into chief human resource officer Sergio Ezama and will lead the talent team in India, based in Mumbai.
“Netflix is deeply committed to India and Rohit will lead the talent function in the country to build a strong and diverse team and enable all employees to do the best work of their lives,” said the company statement.
He was previously associated with dentsu international as chief human resources officer for South Asia since September 2021. Prior to that, Suri was associated with GroupM as chief HR and talent officer for the South Asia region. He was with the company for over five years.
A professional with over 24 years of experience, Suri has experience across consumer internet, technology and media industries in India, Europe and Asia Pacific with the last 16 years spent in leadership roles leading change, business transformation, restructuring, HR project management, business partnership and cultural integration.
Suri has been associated with organisations such as The Indian Express, Star India, Turner, One97 Communications (Paytm) and People Interactive (Shaadi.com).
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
