AI helps identify most effective content presentation for different audiences: Warner Bros. Discovery’s CTO

Two years back, AT&T owned WarnerMedia unit and Discovery merged to form one of the largest media businesses — Warner Bros. Discovery. From a technology point of view, the merger proved to be a ‘hard challenge’ considering the coming together of the big companies like Discovery and Warner, said chief technology officer Avi Saxena in an interview with TechCircle during his recent visit to India. 

“When Warner Bros. and Discovery merged, the challenge of uniting two major tech teams and their respective streaming platforms — HBO Max and Discovery+ — was immense. We started by analysing the architecture of both platforms, breaking down their key building blocks. Teams of engineers evaluated various technologies to determine the best fit for critical aspects like payments, product building, and ad delivery. By combining the strengths of each system, we developed a unified platform, internally called Bolt,” said Saxena. Bolt now serves as the foundation for the streaming product and powers other digital offerings across the company. 

Saxena is responsible for the company's technology initiatives, including the newly formed unified streaming platform Max. He is responsible for a global technology organisation of 4,000 people spread across Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Ottawa, London, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Budapest, India, and others. 

WBD’s tech in India

In India, technology and innovation teams are spread in three locations — Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. According to Saxena, talent acquisition has been one of the major reasons to expand in India. “With decades of experience operating in India, I’ve seen firsthand the wealth of skilled professionals in cities like Bangalore and Pune. Our approach has been to adopt a multi-pronged strategy, expanding recruitment efforts across multiple locations rather than focusing on just one, allowing us to tap into a broader pool of exceptional talent.” Saxena also said that he expects the tech team in India to 1,000 by end of the year.

WBD opened its innovation center in Hyderabad earlier this year. “The Hyderabad capability center officially launched this year with 75 employees, though its groundwork was laid last year. Many of our internal company operations, such as IT help desks and collaboration tools, are now heavily supported by the Hyderabad team,” said Saxena.

To be sure, the company’s first technology office was started in Pune in 2020 by acquiring two ad tech firms. Pune plays a pivotal role in building all the advertising technology that powers WBD’s streaming products worldwide, includes platforms like Max and other streaming services globally. 

Content localisation is fast emerging as the important functions for WBD’s technology team. “In early 2024, we began leveraging AI for content localisation, a field where AI is especially effective. This includes generating subtitles in multiple languages and determining optimal ad markers for content, such as HBO shows, that weren’t originally designed for ad-supported platforms. Our content localisation team is pretty large, with 25-30% of it based in the Bengaluru center.” Apart from content optimisation, Bengaluru also houses WBD’s media supply chain and the quality engineering team.

WBD taps on AI

The global AI in media & entertainment market size is expected to reach $99.48 billion by 2030, growing with a CAGR of 26% from 2023 to 2030, according to a report by Grand View Research. Like many major players, WBD is also looking at different ways to leverage these technologies. 

Saxena said that currently, AI is being leveraged at WBD for productivity enhancement, operational efficiency, enhancing product features, and content generation. Offering more clarity on AI-led content generation, Saxena said, “New and original content continues to be developed by human creatives. However, we use AI for creating promotions for existing content. What resonates with one person might not appeal to another, so AI helps in identifying the most effective ways to present content to different audiences.”

The Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), representing 160,000 media professionals, joined the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in striking mid-2023 over issues like wages, benefits, and working conditions. A major concern was the impact of generative AI on jobs in the entertainment industry. The strike ended on November 9, 2023, after a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The agreement included increased minimum compensation and enhanced protections against AI misuse.

Notably, as a result of the strike, notable studios like WBD incurred heavy financial losses. In September, WBD stated in SEC filing that it was expecting a lower adjusted earning of $10.5 billion-$11 billion for full year, on the back of anticipated hit of $300 million due to the strikes. Notably, WBD reported a net loss of $3.1 billion for 2023, against revenues of $41.3 billion.