Sunder Venketraman, chief business officer, Oneindia, aims to drive growth that reflects Bharat - a diverse, ambitious, and always-evolving nation.

From shaping decentralised content at Firework India to leading revenue at Times Television Network and 9X Media, his journey is about scaling without losing cultural depth.

In our September issue, we spoke to him to learn how the news platform is operating on the ‘power of native search’, while also discussing its mission to scale up without losing cultural authenticity.

When asked about his career journey, Venketraman recalled the lessons learnt from industry stalwarts. “At 9XM, Pradeep Guha taught me that television is first a distribution business. Creativity matters, but without distribution, one cannot exist,” he said.

This early lesson helped him appreciate scale. Later, his time at Times Network with MK Anand showed him how profitability and cultural relevance could coexist. From Ronnie Screwvala, he absorbed a very different philosophy: “Be a bull in the game. Move fast, build later.”

Venketraman believes he now balances both approaches, speed and discipline.

On what sets Oneindia apart in a crowded digital landscape, he explained: “Hyperlocal may be a buzzword today, but we’ve been living it for 20 years.” For him, this means not just covering regional languages but recognising cultural nuance within them, such as the difference between Marathi spoken in Pune and Mumbai. He added that technology precision and editorial relevance form the other two pillars of Oneindia’s strategy, ensuring content is tailored to each audience.

Video, he said, is the new engine of growth. “A reel on Instagram can hit three million views, but the real depth lies in our longer explainers. That’s where we can break down nuance,” he noted.

Venketraman attributes this success to authentic teams creating content from the regions they represent, combined with rigorous data analysis.

AI and automation, however, are used cautiously. “The WISE tool structures articles fast, but no content goes out without a human check. Even if it delays us by a few minutes, I will take accuracy over speed any day,” he stressed.

Looking at the road ahead, Venketraman is clear that attention, regional language affinity, and AI adoption will shape the future.

“Attention is the most valuable currency today. To win it, we must evolve with our audiences, deepen language connections, and embrace AI wisely, he shared.

Read the full chat with Venketraman in our September issue. Click here to buy it!