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Tag: AI

  • BIG FM brings Ramayana to life with AI twist

    BIG FM brings Ramayana to life with AI twist

    MUMBAI: What happens when age-old wisdom meets artificial intelligence? You get a Ramayana retelling fit for the reel world. BIG FM, one of India’s leading radio networks, has launched ‘BIG Ramayana’, an AI-powered audio-video series that brings the timeless legend of Lord Ram to today’s screens and streams. Narrated by acclaimed actor Saurabh Raaj Jain, the series transforms the classic epic into bite-sized, visually rich reels, a perfect blend of mythology and modernity.

    The first episode premiered on 20 October 2025, alongside the launch of the BIG Ramayana Anthem, a soulful ode to dharma, devotion, and destiny. Designed for digital-first audiences, the project combines AI-enhanced reels, audio dramas, podcasts, celebrity capsules, RJ specials, and trivia segments, giving the Ramayana a dynamic, cross-platform presence.

    “At BIG FM, storytelling is in our DNA,” said BIG FM CEO Sunil Kumaran. “BIG Ramayana represents our belief that when tradition meets innovation, it creates something powerful and lasting. It’s about connecting today’s youth to stories that have defined generations.”

    Echoing the sentiment, chief marketing & product officer Atul Razdan added, “We wanted to make mythology matter again for Gen Z. With AI and creative storytelling, BIG Ramayana lets audiences rediscover these timeless tales in formats they truly relate to.”

    Listeners can catch AI-enhanced episodes on BIG FM’s social media platforms and tune in to radio broadcasts Monday to Friday at 8 am and 9 pm. The show also streams on Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Prime Music, and Gaana, proving that even an ancient epic can find its rhythm in a new digital dhun.

     

  • IIDE Announces Professional Certification in AI Strategy to Bridge Industry AI Skills Gap

    IIDE Announces Professional Certification in AI Strategy to Bridge Industry AI Skills Gap

    IIDE – Digital Business School has launched its latest online AI course, the Professional Certification in AI Strategy. The program is designed to equip professionals and aspiring leaders with practical AI competencies to solve real-world business issues and improve operational efficiency.

    India committed over $1.25 billion to AI projects in 2025, underscoring the country’s seriousness about building an AI-skilled workforce. Companies and workers who want to succeed are focusing on learning AI faster than ever.

    While IIDE is known primarily for its digital marketing courses, the school is now expanding its educational offerings by championing AI training. This evolution showcases their commitment to anticipating industry changes and preparing students for the future of work across numerous domains.

    The AI Course program covers vital topics such as AI fundamentals, generative AI, prompt engineering practices, Agentic AI concepts, and automation through intelligent workflow mechanisms.  
    Throughout the curriculum, learners will work through real-world case studies across business functions like sales, customer support, finance, healthcare, retail, and marketing.

    The program integrates practical learning with strategic knowledge, helping participants to achieve mastery in AI implementation across various business functions, from understanding AI foundations to deploying intelligent automation and building AI-driven strategies.

    Karan Shah, Founder of IIDE, says, “At IIDE, we believe that being future-ready is not an option but a responsibility. Being AI Ready is your 10x advantage in today’s corporate world. Anyone who learns this will have the first-mover advantage.”

    Enrollment for the certification is now open. Interested professionals can visit IIDE’s website for detailed information on the curriculum, fee structure, and admission requirements.

    About IIDE –  The Digital School

    IIDE (Indian Institute of Digital Education) is one of India’s leading digital business schools, offering industry-aligned and comprehensive training programs. IIDE’s cutting-edge curriculum incorporates AI, data-driven strategies, and hands-on learning, equipping students with the skills needed for success in the rapidly evolving landscape. IIDE’s alumni network and its non-conventional teaching style make it a top choice in the industry.  
     

  • JioHotstar’s AI Mahabharat breaks records

    JioHotstar’s AI Mahabharat breaks records

    MUMBAI: JioHotstar has stormed into a new era of digital entertainment with the record-breaking debut of Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, India’s first AI-powered entertainment series.

    The show racked up over 6.5 million video views on launch day, achieving a 2.1 times higher reach than the platform average, the biggest opening for a long-running series on JioHotstar to date.

    With AI woven into its creative process, the series reimagines storytelling at scale, proving that technology can enhance human imagination rather than replace it.

    The platform said the milestone marks a blueprint for the future of AI-driven entertainment, where machine intelligence meets artistic vision to create richer, more immersive narratives.

    JioHotstar’s success with Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh underscores its ambition to lead India’s entertainment evolution, blending innovation, tradition, and technology in equal measure.

  • Sportel 2025: AI set to dominate sports content as clubs embrace fan-generated revolution

    Sportel 2025: AI set to dominate sports content as clubs embrace fan-generated revolution

    MONACO: Sports organisations have a decade at most before artificial intelligence swallows nearly all their non-live content whole. Scoreplay – the AI-powered asset management platform – chief executive and cofounder Victorien Tixier delivered that stark message at Sportel Monaco’s sports business conference.

    The technology has become the lifeline for clubs scrambling to flood time zones with content that keeps fans glued. Yet Tixier reckons sport has a fleeting chance to rise above the tidal wave of AI dreck—provided it doubles down on storytelling and authenticity whilst deploying AI to dub content, chase trends and turbocharge workflows.

    “Sport has a unique opportunity to differentiate itself from all that huge flow of AI-generated content by helping organisations invest time and effort on storytelling, authenticity, and capitalise on what makes sport emotional, very human, and then globalise that,” Tixier told the panel.

    Liverpool FC vice-president of media Matthew Quinn detailed how the English football giants ditched physical infrastructure for cloud storage, enabling content creation from anywhere. The club had “years of images stored under a person’s stairs at home that were unsearchable,” he said. Cloud technology let Liverpool scatter content teams across training grounds and away fixtures whilst keeping them connected.

    Liverpool now deploys regional agencies in MENA and southeast Asia to run social media feeds round the clock. “Whilst we sleep in Liverpool, they will be awake in Thailand and those guys can be creating content, jumping on a trend,” Quinn explained. But his real obsession is user-generated content—fans capturing trophy lifts can tell stories “a million times more authentic than the clubs can do,” he said, though AI must do the heavy lifting to process footage in real time.

    Quinn sketched Liverpool’s business model: create centrally, distribute by audience. Different age groups and locations devour content differently—linear TV, YouTube, membership platforms. The setup lets clubs pounce when new platforms materialise. “A few years ago, TikTok didn’t exist,” he noted.

    Tixier stripped the monetisation playbook bare: “You sell tickets, you sell licensing, you sell brand partnerships, and you’re a content business.” Content must power every revenue stream, whether plastering Mo Salah across the website to shift tickets or exploiting international players to crack new markets culturally.

    Wasabi Technologies product marketing manager Isabel Freedman spotted another angle: sponsorship. Brands can trumpet partnerships that matured alongside the sport using archived footage—a compelling pitch.

    Quinn imagines AI linking fan-shot videos to match moments, creating hundreds of perspectives on the same goal. It’s a seductive vision: supporters as storytellers, clubs as enablers, AI as the glue. The sceptics worry about job losses and hidden agendas. The believers see magic. Either way, the revolution isn’t pending. It’s live.

  • Doordarshan and Collective Media reimagine the Mahabharat with AI

    Doordarshan and Collective Media reimagine the Mahabharat with AI

    NEW DELHI: India’s most celebrated epic is getting a technological makeover. Collective Media Network’s Historyverse has unveiled an AI-led reimagining of the Mahabharat, set to premiere on Waves OTT on 25 October 2025. Doordarshan will broadcast it every Sunday at 11:00 AM from 2 November 2025.

    The collaboration pairs Prasar Bharati’s nationwide reach with the creative firepower of a next-generation media network. Advanced AI tools have been used to reconstruct the epic’s sprawling universe—its characters, battlefields and moral quandaries—with cinematic scale and striking realism.

    “Like millions of Indians, I grew up watching the classic Mahabharata on television every Sunday. It was an experience that shaped my imagination and my connection to our culture,” said founder & group chief executive Vijay Subramaniam. “With Mahabharat, our hope is to give today’s generation a similar touchstone that feels as immersive and unifying as it did for us, but told through the possibilities of today’s technology.”

    Prasar Bharati chief executive Gaurav Dwivedi noted that the original Mahabharat‘s re-telecast during lockdown reminded viewers how deeply these narratives bind families together. “Partnering on this AI-led reimagining allows audiences to experience one of India’s greatest epics anew—honouring tradition while embracing cutting-edge technology in storytelling.”

    Waves, Prasar Bharati’s official OTT platform, has quickly amassed millions of users with its credible, family-friendly and multilingual content. The platform offers video-on-demand, live events and an extensive library of television, radio, audio and magazine programming. The Mahabharat project exemplifies how heritage and innovation can converge to create contemporary narratives that resonate across India and beyond.

  • Indegene snaps up BioPharm to muscle into AI-powered pharma advertising

    Indegene snaps up BioPharm to muscle into AI-powered pharma advertising

    PENNSYLVANIA: Indegene is buying BioPharm Communications, a specialised marketing agency serving 17 of the world’s top 25 biopharma firms. The acquisition, announced on 1 October, will bolt adtech capabilities onto the Indian company’s commercialisation portfolio and cement its position in data-driven omnichannel marketing for global pharma.

    BioPharm, based in New Hope, Pennsylvania, is part of Omnicom Health Group. It brings 20 years of expertise in omnichannel strategy, media planning and execution, and precision marketing powered by analytics and automation. The deal is being done through ILSL Inc., a subsidiary of Indegene Ltd.

    The timing is strategic. Pharma companies are scrambling to transform their marketing as physicians favour limited engagement and regulatory complexities mount. Traditional healthcare agencies are struggling to keep pace. Meanwhile, companies are juggling mature product portfolios whilst ramping up capabilities for new launches—all whilst trying to boost productivity.

    “BioPharm has built an impressive growth flywheel, with advanced tech capabilities, deep therapeutic expertise, and long-standing client relationships,” said Indegene chairman and chief executive Manish Gupta. “This acquisition reinforces our position as the preferred tech-native commercialisation partner for the life sciences industry.”

    BioPharm president Steve Carickhoff said Indegene was a natural home given its innovation-first, employee-centric culture backed by strong technology platforms and a global delivery model. “Their life sciences-contextualised approach to AI will open up new possibilities. Together, we will push the boundaries of AI-powered pharma marketing worldwide—delivering more personalised, measurable, and patient-focused outcomes.”

    BioPharm operates a proprietary network of more than 3 million healthcare decision-makers, which it uses for precision targeting and addressable media campaigns. Combined with Indegene’s data assets, the acquisition should drive higher media returns on investment and enable more effective automated operations.

    Indegene, listed on the BSE and NSE, describes itself as the tech-native life sciences specialist that orchestrates the path from commercialisation strategy through execution. It works with the world’s top 20 biopharma companies across clinical, medical and commercial functions. Founded 25 years ago, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru.

    Seyfarth Shaw represented Indegene in the transaction.

  • Real Bazar pitches AI matchmaking for the creator economy

    Real Bazar pitches AI matchmaking for the creator economy

    MUMBAI:The influencer marketing game is worth $24bn, yet brands still struggle to find creators who actually suit them—and creators still struggle to get paid properly. Real Bazar, a Mumbai startup launched on October 1st, reckons it has the answer: artificial intelligence that plays cupid between companies and content-makers.

    Co-founded by Abhishek Mittal and Viraj Dave, the platform uses AI to match brands with creators whose audiences and styles align with their needs, then handles everything from brainstorming reels to tracking performance and processing payments. The pitch is simple: stop wasting time on mismatched collaborations and botched content.

    “The creator economy is at a critical inflection point,” says co-founder Mittal. Brands face mounting pressure to produce short-form video content that resonates, he argues, whilst creators struggle to monetise their work effectively. Real Bazar’s gambit is to transform what he calls “transactional collaborations” into sustained partnerships.

    The platform offers three core functions. Its AI-integrated reel studio helps companies draft and optimise video content at speed. Its matchmaking engine analyses brand objectives against creator profiles, pairing them by niche, engagement and audience fit. And its collaboration hub manages negotiations, payments and performance tracking in one place.

    Whether Real Bazar can solve influencer marketing’s thorniest problems—authenticity, transparency and return on investment—remains an open question. But in a market where brands are desperate for content that converts and creators are hungry for fair pay, the startup is betting that algorithmic efficiency beats human intuition.

    The platform launched with little fanfare beyond its press release. Time will tell whether its AI can truly decode the alchemy of viral content—or whether it simply adds another layer of technology to an already crowded market.

  • Zee News unveils India’s first media-led deepfake detection system

    Zee News unveils India’s first media-led deepfake detection system

    MUMBAI: Truth just got a new tech ally. Zee News, in collaboration with Neural Defend, has rolled out India’s first AI-powered deepfake verification system for the news media, putting advanced fact-checking directly in the hands of citizens.

    The initiative comes at a time when deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation are fast eroding public trust. Studies reveal that nearly 96 per cent of manipulated videos slip past the average viewer undetected, threatening journalism and democracy alike. By offering a simple drag-and-drop interface where users can upload videos, images, or audio files for instant verification, Zee News is making authenticity accessible to everyone.

    Unveiling the platform during a prime-time broadcast, managing editor Rahul Sinha urged viewers to test any suspicious video themselves. “Trust is the new benchmark,” added  ZMCL marketing head Anindya Khare, noting that the system not only safeguards audiences, particularly younger, digital-first viewers but also provides advertisers with a brand-safe environment rooted in credibility.

    On the tech front, ZMCL CTO Vijayant Kumar explained that Neural Defend’s AI engine can detect even the most sophisticated manipulations within seconds. “This is not just innovation for today but a safeguard for tomorrow’s information ecosystem,” he said.

    By integrating deepfake detection across TV, web, and digital platforms, Zee News is cementing its position as a technology-first newsroom, one that is not only reporting the truth but also helping audiences verify it.

     

  • Climate-conscious marketing startup bags $2m to fix advertising’s waste problem

    Climate-conscious marketing startup bags $2m to fix advertising’s waste problem

    MUMBAI: Nearly two-fifths of the $1 trillion sloshed around global advertising each year vanishes into the ether—wasted on botched targeting, feeble creative and sheer duplication. Climaty AI reckons it can plug the leak.
    The Dubai-based startup, which bills itself as the world’s first “CliMarTech” company, has secured $2m in early-stage funding led by Turbostart to build what it calls an agentic AI ecosystem—self-learning marketing infrastructure that optimises campaigns in real time whilst measuring their carbon footprint.

    Founded by Neel Pandya, former chief executive of AI startup Pixis (which he helped scale to $225m in funding), Climaty AI deploys four AI-powered agents—Campaign Builder, Creator, Optimizer and Analytics—to automate the grunt work and free media planners to focus on strategy rather than spreadsheets.

    The funding will bankroll expansion across Asia-Pacific, EMEA, Britain and north America, where demand for sustainable marketing is climbing. Climaty AI has already run pilots with Opella and tested its platform across edtech, consumer healthcare, automotive and consumer goods sectors.

    “Marketing platforms of the future will combine performance with accountability. Climaty AI is shaping this new standard with CliMarTech and agentic AI,” said Bengaluru-based venture and accelerator fund Turbostart founder Ganesh Raju. 

    Pandya, who spent two decades at L’Oréal, Vodafone and GroupM before diving into AI, argued that the most successful brands will treat accountability as a performance driver rather than a cost centre. “Agentic AI and sustainability are at the core of everything we do,” he said.

    The pitch: smarter campaigns, measurable results, and a smaller carbon footprint—performance and responsibility in one package. Whether agencies and brands buy it remains to be seen, but with $370 billion going up in smoke annually, there’s certainly room for improvement.

  • Anymind banks on avatars to fast-track brand live streaming

    Anymind banks on avatars to fast-track brand live streaming

    MUMBAI: Talk about putting your money where your face is. Anymind group is banking on avatars to give live commerce a fresh facelift.

    The company has rolled out its new ‘Avatar Bank’ on Anylive, its AI-powered live commerce platform. Think of it as a ready-to-wear wardrobe, but for digital hosts: brands can now dip into a library of pre-made AI avatars instead of spending time and money creating one from scratch.

    The appeal? Speed and savings. With avatars off the shelf, brands can launch streams in just a week, making live commerce campaigns quicker, leaner and far less of a production headache. For brands juggling multiple campaigns, that’s as close to plug-and-play as it gets.

    Anylive isn’t just about pretty faces either. The platform can deliver content in multiple languages, run streams around the clock, and crunch data from both human and AI-led sessions to help brands fine-tune scripts and performances. The Avatar Bank slips neatly into this ecosystem, letting businesses mix and match, use custom avatars for premium projects, or pick from the bank when speed matters.

    Anymind Group, ceo and co-founder, Kosuke Sogo said the feature has already gained traction in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. “This update makes it easier than ever for brands to incorporate AI avatars into their live commerce efforts. We will expand our lineup to give brands more choice, helping them achieve maximum results with minimal effort,” he said.

    For a world hungry for faster campaigns, the message is clear: avatars aren’t just virtual, they’re virtually indispensable.