Meet the Mate Talkers 2026
A roundtable where the people who actually build media & video industry sit down, share a mate, and talk.
Andy Beach
Andy has spent his career at the place where media and technology collide. After more than a decade at Microsoft, where he helped launch media apps on Xbox and served as CTO for Media & Entertainment, he co-founded Alchemy Creations in 2025, a consultancy focused on helping media organizations navigate AI without losing their minds. He also writes Engines of Change, a Substack about AI, media infrastructure, and what actually happens behind the screen. His work earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy, and one of his proudest moments was launching the NBA's OTT platform from his living room during the 2020 lockdown. Andy also teaches through SMPTE, workshops, and writing, because he genuinely believes that the best way to survive the next wave of tech is to ask better questions.
David Hassoun
David has been solving hard problems in streaming for over 20 years. Five Olympics. Three Super Bowls. For 18 years he built and led RealEyes, a media technology company specializing in streaming solutions that became a reference in the industry and was ultimately acquired by Dolby Laboratories. As Former Chief Technologist for Dolby Cloud Solutions, he helped bridge business, product, and technology to push the boundaries of media streaming at scale. Today he channels all of that experience into his independent consulting practice and his work as SVTA co-chair.
Olga Kornienko
Olga has spent over two decades doing something most people overlook until it breaks: making sure premium content stays protected. As Co-Founder and COO of EZDRM, she helped build one of the most trusted names in digital rights management from the ground up, back in 2003, when streaming was barely a concept. Today, broadcasters, OTT platforms, and content owners around the world rely on the infrastructure she helped create. She is also a vocal advocate for diversity and equity in tech, and believes the industry gets stronger when more voices are at the table.
Bhavesh Upadhyaya
Bhavesh has led product, operations, and professional services initiatives for global events and major media companies, including the Olympics, iStreamPlanet, Verizon Digital Media, DeltaTre, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Today, he helps media organizations figure out how to actually use AI in metadata, quality control, and product management, without losing sight of cost, accuracy, and scale. As Co-Chair of the AI Committee at the SVTA, he works with industry leaders to set real best practices for automation, content discovery, and video QoE.
Sean McCarthy
Sean leads the team at YouTube responsible for the live streaming infrastructure that powers premium OTT content, at a scale most people can't even picture. His expertise spans CDN deployments, live workflow orchestration, video analytics, and encoding. Outside of YouTube, he co-chairs the SVTA's Measurement & QoE working group, pushing for better data standards across the industry. Before YouTube, he held roles at Paramount, Bitmovin, and Akamai.
JP Saibene
JP is the co-founder and CEO of Qualabs, a global product and engineering company specialized in video technology, streaming infrastructure, and large-scale media systems. For over 15 years he has operated at the intersection of engineering, business, and ecosystem building, partnering with some of the world's leading streaming platforms and media companies across the US and Europe.
He founded Montevideo Tech seven years ago, sits on the Board of the SVTA, and leads Montevideo Tech Ventures, a studio focused on open innovation in MediaTech. Outside of his executive roles, he channels that same energy into education and entrepreneurship as President of DESEM Junior Achievement Uruguay.
Our First In-Person Event of 2026
Montevideo Tech Day, Summer Camp 2026, every January, Montevideo, Uruguay hosts the first in-person Mate Talk session of the year, the perfect way to kick off a new season.
Check out our next meetup
Join us for an open roundtable where we dive into the latest in video tech, share insights, and spark great conversations with industry peers. 🚀
📆 Next meetup, 9th April
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