iWorld
Tarun Katial steps down as Zee5 India CEO
MUMBAI: Zee5 CEO Tarun Katial has put down his papers after four years. He had joined the OTT platform in November 2016 and during his tenure, not only did he steer the platform and help the company gain a leadership position, but was instrumental in conceptualising the brand’s home-grown short video app HiPi, among other things.
A company spokesperson said, “We wish to confirm that Tarun Katial has tendered his resignation, as CEO, Zee5 India. We thank him for his valuable contribution towards the growth of Zee5. Under his able leadership, in a very short span of time, Zee5 has emerged as India’s largest ConTech brand, delivering seamless, superlative content across different consumer touch-points, backed with cutting edge technology. His rich experience and expertise have been invaluable in building a robust digital platform. We wish Tarun the best in all his future endeavours.”
In line with its recently announced strategic restructuring of the organisation, Amit Goenka as the president – digital businesses and platforms will continue to lead team Zee5, along with other digital platforms.
In a career spanning over three decades, Katial has worked at companies such as Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), BIG FM, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Star TV Network, Ogilvy & Mather (now Ogilvy), Enterprise Nexus Lowe.
Under his leadership, the Zee5 platform has amassed 100+ originals across genres and languages and seen 100 million plus downloads.
iWorld
Schmooze launches AI matchmaker Riya to personalise dating
300,000 users try feature as retention doubles on Gen Z dating app.
MUMBAI: Love might be blind, but now it’s also algorithmically curated and apparently quite chatty. Schmooze has introduced an AI-powered personal matchmaker named Riya, marking its latest push to move beyond swipe-led dating into deeper, personality-driven matchmaking. Unlike traditional matching systems, Riya interacts directly with users through conversations asking about everything from lifestyle and humour to relationship goals and family values. The idea is simple but ambitious: understand users beyond surface-level preferences and recommend matches that actually fit.
The feature builds on a pattern Schmooze had already observed. Its earlier AI tool, People Finder, allowed users to describe their ideal partner in detail and users did exactly that. Requests ranged from “an extrovert who works in tech and likes to cook” to hyper-specific traits, signalling a clear shift towards intent-driven dating.
That insight exposed a gap. While dating apps typically rely on probability-based algorithms, many users already know what they want they just lack a system that can interpret it meaningfully.
Riya attempts to fill that gap using a conversational approach. Instead of rigid inputs, it gathers signals organically sometimes through casual questions about weekend plans or social habits while mapping deeper compatibility markers in the background.
To support this, Schmooze has built its own end-to-end voice AI stack and large language model, rather than relying on third-party systems. The move is aimed at keeping costs in check while handling scale, and ensuring tighter control over user data and privacy.
The early numbers suggest traction. More than 300,000 users have already interacted with Riya, with those users showing 2× higher retention compared to others on the platform. While the system is designed for short interactions, some users are spending up to 40–50 minutes in conversation occasionally even asking for date ideas, prompting the company to add personalised recommendations.
The launch is the latest step in Schmooze’s broader attempt to rethink dating for Gen Z. Founded by Vidya Madhavan and Abhinav Anurag, the platform initially stood out by using memes as a proxy for personality tracking over 3.5 billion meme swipes across its base of more than 5 million users.
In a market dominated by global players like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, Schmooze’s approach signals a shift from visual-first discovery to interaction-led compatibility. And with AI now stepping in as a digital wingman, the dating game may be moving from swipe right to speak right.
