Cloud partnerships leader Jagannath Cuddapah shares how AI solutions drive efficiency in content management

Photo courtesy of Jagannath Cuddapah

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In the bustling offices of a primary streaming service, editors frantically sift through thousands of video footage, racing against the clock to assemble the next binge-worthy series. Across town, a news network’s content team scrambles to fact-check and publish breaking stories across multiple platforms simultaneously. 

However, Artificial intelligence (AI) is now changing these once-commonplace scenes in the media and entertainment industry. According to Jagannath “Jagan” Cuddapah, a cloud engineer leading the AI implementation in today’s tech giant, AI in content management reshapes how content is managed, distributed, and monetized in different media platforms. It facilitates precise content while establishing efficiency throughout the entire content lifecycle — from ideation to viewer consumption. 

The main drivers of modern media

In today’s fragmented media ecosystem, precision is necessary. Jagannath Cuddapah believes that with countless streaming services, social media platforms, and digital publishers vying for attention, delivering the right content to the right audience at the right time can make or break a media company’s success.

A Deloitte study revealed that engaging subscribers requires offering them a broad range of shows and movies, including new and original content unavailable on other services. This demand allows companies to curate recommendations based on viewing patterns, now possible through AI. 

“Precision in media isn’t just about quality anymore,” Jagannath Cuddapah mentions. “It’s about understanding your audience at a granular level and serving them exactly what they want, when and where they want it. AI allows us to do this at scale.”

While precision targets the consumer experience, productivity focuses on the backend – the complex content creation, management, and distribution. Increasing productivity can lead to significant competitive advantages in an industry where time equals money. 

AI in content management substantially increases productivity gains. According to a 2024 report by Grand View Research, experts expect the global AI in media and entertainment market size to reach $99.48 billion by 2030, as companies increasingly adopt AI for tasks such as content creation, metadata tagging, and personalized recommendations.

Unlocking the best of content management with AI

As the North American lead for Sales & Partnerships in Media & Entertainment at Google Cloud, Jagannath Cuddapah has seen and led the firsthand implementation of AI in content management, especially in media and entertainment. He uses his 17 years of experience to develop cloud-based AI solutions that address the content management pain points that media and entertainment companies face today. 

Automated content tagging and categorization

Content management faces a major challenge in organizing and finding assets efficiently. Jagannath Cuddapah addressed this issue using AI.

Cuddapah employed Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Vision for automated content tagging and categorization. His solution transformed how a central streaming platform managed its vast content library.

Jagannath Cuddapah reports that the AI system streamlined video processing for the sports platform. It rapidly ingested, analyzed, and categorized millions of hours of content. This included sports footage and archives. The AI method proved far more efficient than traditional approaches.

The impact of this AI-driven content tagging and categorization system was most evident during live sports events, where the ability to retrieve and stream relevant footage from the past swiftly significantly enhanced the viewer experience. 

Jagannath Cuddapah elaborates that with Vertex AI Vision, the streaming platform could easily search for specific moments, plays, or highlights from years ago using simple keywords, thanks to the content’s automated tagging and categorization. 

This saved time and resources and allowed for more engaging and informative live sports coverage. Commentators and producers could quickly access and incorporate relevant historical content to enrich the live broadcast.

Targeted product development 

Cuddapah’s AI in content management extends beyond efficient footage and record filing. He also deployed a gaming data engine through AI, enabling a famous gaming company to gather and analyze all gamer data in a centralized location. 

This comprehensive data collection and analysis empowered the company to gain more useful insights into customers’ preferences, behaviors, and desires. 

Jagannath Cuddapah emphasizes that with this valuable information, the gaming company could make data-driven decisions about product development and feature prioritization, making sure that their offerings align precisely with the needs and wants of their target audience.

Additionally, the centralized gamer data helped the gaming company reduce its data management costs by an impressive 20%, which allowed it to allocate more resources to developing new features and enhancements that directly catered to its gamers’ desires. 

Jagannath Cuddapah mentions, “These AI-powered tools give this gaming company the ability to create highly targeted and engaging gaming experiences that keep players coming back for more.”

Leveling up the precision, Cuddapah also worked behind the AI-based Dubbing, using AI to recreate voices and change the movie into multiple languages. This allowed production companies to make their content precisely targeted to their audience depending on location, increasing viewer engagement and experience. 

A new era of content intelligence

From automated content tagging and categorization to new targetted products and recommendations and real-time content optimization, AI in content management has streamlined workflows and eliminated tedious, time-consuming tasks, allowing content creators and managers to focus on higher-level strategic initiatives.

As a result, AI has become an indispensable tool for media and entertainment companies looking to stay competitive in an increasingly data-driven and content-rich industry. It enables them to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently while still delivering the high-quality, personalized experiences that audiences crave. 

For Jagannath Cuddapah, the challenge now is in the hands of entertainment companies,  how they will maximize these new tools to deliver content audiences they have never thought possible.