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As video consumption shifted from traditional channels to online, especially among the digitally-savvy and socially-connected, Sameer Pitalwalla and Venkat Prasad saw an opportunity in a technology-driven media company.
Thus, Culture Machine was born in 2013 to create a digital video company catering to the Internet generation.
Pitalwalla, a graduate of the University of Westminster, headed the digital media business at Disney UTV and also set up the digital video business at the Times Group, where he launched the first YouTube channel in the country.
For him, the digital medium has evolved to have a rich dialogue with its consumers making it the most important tool for brand communication.
Venkat Prasad is a technology executive of Indian origin based out of San Francisco. In a career spanning two decades, he has worked with the giants of consumer media and technology such as YouTube, Google, Yahoo and Intuit. Prasad's time at these technology giants has given him an edge in big data, which is a core feature of Culture Machine, enabling it to identify its audience.
Given their diverse experience, Pitalwalla and Prasad bring a complementary skills sets to Culture Machine – while Pitalwalla oversees the media business, Prasad deals with the finances and data analytics.
The purpose of Culture Machine is to create state-of-the-art digital videos for brands and consumers alike, and ensure content reaches the right audience, i.e., generations of South Asians.
