iWorld
The future of original content
MUMBAI: The 9th edition of the Content Hub Summit 2025 came roaring into Mumbai this week, promising answers to a question plaguing the media world: how do you stay original when the world’s drowning in content?
Raghav Anand, partner at Ernst & Young LLP, kicked things off with some eye-watering numbers: the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) sector is now worth Rs 2.5bn, fuelled by 1.1trn hours of content consumption. “That’s a massive amount of attention,” said Anand. But with time spent on platforms now plateauing, he warned the next battleground will be retention, not reach.
And yet, India’s churning out a gobsmacking 200,000 hours of original content a year—leading globally in volume. TV still dominates, but OTT, film and music are closing in fast. What’s changing is how and why content is made and the growing shadow of generative AI has everyone both curious and cautious.
Goldie Behl, founder of Rose Audio Visuals, dismissed the obsession with “originality” as misplaced. “There’s nothing truly original. Everything’s borrowed, lived, or inspired. What matters is conviction,” he said, adding that content made with honesty and emotional depth is what ultimately cuts through.
Aditi Shrivastava, co-founder and CEO of Pocket Aces, echoed the point, emphasising that her studio’s approach is to test stories at micro-scale before scaling up. “We find communities not demographics on social platforms. We create short, relatable pieces and build from there,” she said, adding that this modular testing lets them co-create with audiences in real time.
Saugata Mukherjee, head of content at SonyLIV, was clear-eyed about what makes content stick: identity and consistency. “We built the platform on shows rooted in Indian culture. Our audience knows what we stand for, and that’s why they return.” Originals, he said, drive both customer acquisition and retention, with long-running franchises offering a steady heartbeat.
Tejkarran Singh Bajaj, SVP and head of originals at Jio Studios, admitted times are “exciting but very difficult”. His team resists trend-chasing and instead banks on instinct: “We don’t make franchises. We find stories worth telling, ones that feel truly Indian.” That means even adaptations are reworked with a cultural lens, not just scene-by-scene lifts.
Anuj Gosalia, founder of Terribly Tiny Tales, described today’s attention economy as “weaponised dopamine”, calling short-form ‘TV minus minus’—and still wildly effective. “People used to mock reels and TikToks. Now every A-lister’s on them. Micro-dramas will be the same,” he predicted.
Swati Patnaik, creative director at Applause Entertainment, argued that the secret sauce of global success is local flavour. “The more rooted the story, the more it travels,” she said. “It’s not about the plot; it’s the point of view. That’s what cuts across borders.”
As for AI, the mood was one of cautious intrigue rather than full-blown enthusiasm. Behl questioned whether AI can ever replicate emotional depth. “When an actor cries on screen, can AI make us feel that? I’ve yet to see it,” he said.
Still, Anand noted that GenAI is already driving 20–25 per cent cost savings and slashing production time. The challenge, then, is less whether AI will be used and more how ethically and meaningfully it will be integrated.
India’s original content scene is at a thrilling and slightly terrifying crossroads. The audience is fragmented, hungry, and overloaded. AI is knocking. Attention spans are plummeting. But as this year’s Content Hub Summit showed, the real winners will be those who tell deeply human stories with cultural authenticity, creative courage, and a sharp eye on what viewers really want.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
