India's Digital Challenge: Diversity Over Scale

Bharath Ram, the CPO of JioHotstar, spoke at the India Digital Summit 2026.

He said that the big challenge for digital platforms in India is not just serving a lot of people, but understanding that India is like many small markets with different languages, devices, and cultures.

He gave the example of cricket matches between India and Pakistan, which have millions of people watching at the same time, switching languages and devices.

He also talked about how important it is to make things simple and personalised for users.

He mentioned that AI is helpful for things like subtitles and recommendations.

He said that as people watch more content on different screens and want recommendations based on their mood, platforms need to adapt.

In the end, he said that building for India's diversity can lead to innovations that work all over the world.