Dipan Majumder is a technology leader specializing in streaming video platforms, ad tech and large-scale live event delivery. He currently serves as Director of Video Software Engineering and Dynamic Ad Insertion at NBCUniversal, where he leads globally distributed teams building infrastructure powering Peacock and international streaming services. His work has supported major global events including the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, NFL and Premier League, along with premium entertainment programming such as Poker Face and Love Island. Dipan is also an Emmy Award recipient and patent holder in dynamic ad delivery technologies.
How many years have you been a judge?
This is my first year!
What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?
Judging for the Telly Awards is exciting because it offers a behind-the-scenes look at how creators blend storytelling and technology to engage audiences. Having spent my career building the infrastructure that delivers premium video experiences, I value the opportunity to evaluate the creative outcomes those systems enable. It is also rewarding to contribute to recognizing innovation across formats and platforms.
What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?
My first role in the industry was as a software engineer working on media delivery and backend platform systems. That experience taught me the importance of building reliable foundations before chasing scale or feature complexity. It also reinforced the value of curiosity and continuous learning, especially in an industry where technology and viewer expectations evolve quickly.
What project are you most proud to have worked on?
One of the projects I am most proud of is contributing to the streaming infrastructure behind Olympic Games coverage on Peacock. Delivering reliable playback, dynamic advertising and interactive experiences for an event of that global scale required deep collaboration across engineering, product and broadcast teams. Seeing viewers seamlessly engage with live sports across devices made the effort incredibly rewarding.
What’s the most challenging part about your job and/or the industry?
One of the biggest challenges is balancing innovation with reliability in an always-on, high-expectation environment. Viewers expect flawless experiences even as platforms rapidly evolve. Navigating that tension while leading teams and maintaining technical excellence is a constant challenge.
What do you look for to determine excellence in video?
For me, excellence in video comes from the alignment of storytelling, technical execution and audience impact. Strong projects use cinematography, sound and editing in ways that feel intentional and immersive while also delivering a seamless viewing experience across devices. I am especially drawn to content that experiments with format, interactivity or distribution in ways that deepen audience engagement.
What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?
I lead engineering initiatives across video platform architecture and monetization systems supporting streaming services in the U.S. and international markets. My responsibilities include building scalable playback and ad delivery infrastructure, supporting live events, and guiding technical strategy across distributed teams. What I enjoy most is seeing complex systems translate into real audience moments, from live sports broadcasts to culturally relevant shows and film releases.
What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?
I am currently focused on evolving dynamic ad insertion and video delivery architectures to support personalization, interactivity and real-time optimization across streaming platforms. This includes integrating emerging standards, improving playback reliability during high-concurrency events, and enabling more flexible monetization strategies. The convergence of AI-driven decisioning and streaming infrastructure is an area I find particularly exciting.
Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?
I lean heavily on cross-disciplinary collaboration. Working closely with product, editorial and design teams early in the lifecycle exposes the creative intent behind an experience and often unlocks better technical solutions. I also revisit postmortems from both successes and failures, since real innovation usually comes from understanding what broke and why.
What inspired you to pursue your career path?
I have always been drawn to the intersection of technology and storytelling. The idea that software systems could power global cultural moments like the Olympics, FIFA World Cup or major entertainment releases felt incredibly compelling. Over time that curiosity evolved into leading engineering teams that make those experiences reliable, scalable and monetizable.
In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?
A major shift is the convergence of broadcast and streaming into a unified viewing experience where personalization, interactivity and monetization happen in real time. Navigating this transition requires teams to think beyond traditional boundaries and design systems that are flexible, data-driven and resilient. Organizations that invest in both creative experimentation and robust infrastructure will be best positioned to adapt.
