ZEE5 appoints Tejkarran Singh Bajaj to lead AI and innovation

ZEE5’s investment in AI leadership aligns with a significant financial turnaround for the platform. Per Zee Entertainment’s 2024–25 annual report, ZEE5 reduced its EBITDA losses by nearly 50%, dropping from ₹11.1 billion in FY24 to ₹5.5 billion in FY25. This improvement was driven by a 6% increase in revenue to ₹9,760 million and a shift toward 'frugal growth' following the collapse of the proposed $10 billion merger with Sony. Management has since targeted an EBITDA margin of 18–20% by FY2026, relying on technology to drive efficiencies across its library of over 135,000 hours of content.

The broader Indian market is increasingly prioritizing technology-led orchestration to manage massive audience scale. According to April 2026 reporting from Exchange4media, India’s connected TV and large-screen segments are expected to see ad spends approach ₹28,000 crore this year. In this high-stakes environment, AI-driven discovery is moving from standard category browsing to conversational intent models. Research from Manipal indicates that AI recommendation accuracy now influences up to 80% of watch time on major platforms, directly impacting the 'discoverability' of deep-catalog assets.

While Bajaj led a slate of over 50 shows at Jio Studios, his return to ZEE5 highlights the industry’s demand for executives who can navigate both creative production and technical innovation. ZEE5's Tech and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru has already begun experimenting with AI for script analysis and performance prediction. This organizational shift mirrors global moves by Netflix and Amazon to use machine learning not just for recommendations, but for optimizing content investment ROI and regional language localization.