Technology Innovator Shobana Radhakrishnan, head of Google TV, honored with an award for her groundbreaking work in 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. This prestigious award recognises female executives who have made significant contributions through innovation at the intersection of entertainment and technology.
Radhakrishnan's pioneering work with AI has been instrumental in shaping the future of entertainment technology. Over her more than two-decade-long career, she has been a technology visionary, bringing AI-based innovation to many products.
At Google TV, Radhakrishnan launched the first AI-driven innovation for TV OS in the history of Google. Her work provided consumers with a state-of-the-art experience with personalized recommendations in the Google TV OS. This innovation served as important ecosystem elements not just for Google TV but have also served as benchmarks for the connected TV industry.
Radhakrishnan's contributions to Google TV ushered in a new era of innovation with Gemini and AI on TV. Her work set a high standard for personalized recommendations for the entire industry.
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." She also led architecturally complex migrations that helped Netflix expand globally.
Radhakrishnan's work at Google TV was praised by Amy Jo Smith, the President & CEO of DEG. In a statement, Smith said, "I am proud to present the Hedy Lamarr Innovation Award for 2025 to Shobana Radhakrishnan of Google." Smith further added that Radhakrishnan's pioneering work with AI is being honoured for its important, practical, and responsible use of the technology in 2025.
The Hedy Lamarr Award, in its ninth year, has previously been won by several notable female executives in entertainment and technology. Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actor and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, was the first recipient in 2017. Nonny de la Peña, CEO of Emblematic Group, received the award in 2018. Dean Willow Bay of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism was honoured in 2019. Sara DeWitt, VP of PBS KIDS Digital, won in 2020. Poppy Crum, former Chief Scientist at Dolby Laboratories, received the award in 2021. Paulette Pantoja, Founder & CEO of Blu Digital Group, was the 2022 recipient. Shalini Govil-Pai, VP and General Manager of TV Platforms at Google, won in 2023.
Radhakrishnan will receive DEG's 2025 Hedy Lamarr Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles in fall.
\n\n[1] Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) Press Release, 2025, October 1
\n\n[2] Variety, 2025, October 1
\n\n[3] The Hollywood Reporter, 2025, October 1
\n\n[4] Deadline, 2025, October 1
\n\n[5] TechCrunch, 2025, October 1
Shobana Radhakrishnan's innovative use of technology in entertainment was recognized by the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) when she received the Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology in 2025. The state-of-the-art AI-driven innovation she launched at Google TV, including personalized recommendations and ecosystem elements for connected TV, set high standards and served as benchmarks for the industry.
