Google's head of Google TV, Shobana Radhakrishnan, honored with an accolade for groundbreaking work in the realm of Entertainment Technology.
Shobana Radhakrishnan, the Senior Director of Engineering for Google TV, has been honoured with the Digital Entertainment Group’s (DEG) 2025 Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology. The award ceremony will take place in Los Angeles in the fall.
Radhakrishnan's career in technology and entertainment spans over two decades, during which she has held significant leadership roles at companies such as Yahoo, Netflix, Roku, and currently Google. She is recognised as a technology visionary, especially noted for pioneering AI-driven innovations in entertainment technology.
One of Radhakrishnan's key contributions is the launch of the first AI-driven personalised recommendation system for Google TV OS, which utilised Google's Gemini AI. This innovation set a new industry standard for AI-enabled user experiences in entertainment technology.
Amy Jo Smith, DEG President & CEO, stated that Radhakrishnan's work with AI to provide consumers a state-of-the-art experience with personalised recommendations in the Google TV OS is deserving of the Hedy Lamarr Innovation Award.
Prior to Google, Radhakrishnan held various technical leadership roles at Roku, Mindflash Technologies, Yahoo, and Netflix. At Netflix, she was the overall engineering lead for the launch of streaming's first original series, "House of Cards."
At Roku, Radhakrishnan spearheaded a multi-year migration that was critical to the company's core business success. She is also passionate about diversity in STEM and has led Diversity and Inclusion initiatives across Roku, Google, Netflix, and Yahoo.
Radhakrishnan's work at Google TV ushered in a new era of innovation with Gemini and AI on TV, setting a high standard for personalised recommendations for the entire industry. She was also responsible for bringing Android innovation such as virtual remote, fast pairing, and GTV Connect to a one billion-user base with the Google TV app.
The Hedy Lamarr Award is in its ninth year and recognises female executives in the fields of entertainment and technology who have made a significant contribution to the industry. Radhakrishnan's multiplatform and multimodal vision for personalised recommendations has been influential in the industry.
Radhakrishnan led architecturally complex migrations that helped Netflix expand globally, and she led the multi-year initiative to bring Google search and recommendation algorithms to Google TV. Her work at Google TV serves as important ecosystem elements for the connected TV industry.
Outside of her engineering achievements, Radhakrishnan has publicly spoken on the evolving nature of work with AI, emphasising that AI redefines roles rather than replaces jobs, reflecting her thought leadership beyond engineering achievements.
In the fall, Radhakrishnan will receive the DEG’s 2025 Hedy Lamarr Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles, in recognition of her transformative impact on AI use in entertainment technology.
Technology advancements in entertainment continue to be driven by Shobana Radhakrishnan's visionary work, such as the AI-driven personalised recommendation system for Google TV OS, setting industry standards for AI-enabled user experiences. Radhakrishnan's influence on the entertainment industry extends beyond technology, as she advocates for diversity in STEM and explores the evolving nature of work with AI.
