India’s JioStar Taps Emmy-Winning Pixar Veteran Stephan Bugaj to Lead GenAI Content Strategy

Indian media giant JioStar has brought on board Emmy Award-winning creative technologist Stephan Bugaj as senior VP of GenAI content and technology.

The hire signals JioStar’s push into artificial intelligence-driven content development as the company builds out interactive storytelling capabilities and AI-powered production workflows across its entertainment portfolio.

Bugaj most recently served as chief creative officer at Genvid Entertainment, where he helped develop the Massively Interactive Live Event format that blends streaming video, gaming mechanics and real-time audience participation. During his tenure, he spearheaded the creation of AI-integrated creative pipelines designed for filmmakers and oversaw interactive narrative projects that merged live engagement with scripted content.

The veteran creative and technology executive brings more than three decades of experience spanning roles at Pixar Animation Studios, Telltale Games, DJ2 Entertainment and Hanson Robotics. His background encompasses systems architecture for AI-powered content creation, adaptive storytelling frameworks, digital production infrastructure and immersive media platforms.

In his new role, Bugaj will advance JioStar’s existing AI initiatives, which include conversational user interfaces, companion-screen engagement tools and AI-enhanced content production systems. The company is positioning itself to deliver interactive entertainment formats tailored for digital-native audiences.

Bugaj won an Emmy for outstanding innovation in emerging media in 2024.

JioStar is the entity formed from the merger of Disney’s Star India and Reliance’s Viacom18. The company’s television networks and streaming platform collectively reach over 750 million viewers weekly across multiple territories. The company has been expanding its technology capabilities as competition intensifies in the global streaming and digital entertainment space.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​