Behind the Story: How I Produced IBM TechXchange 2025
By Aravind Ragupathi
Chief Storyteller & Executive Producer, IBM TechXchange

For the second year in a row, I led the creative vision and end-to-end execution of the IBM TechXchange Scope & Impact Film, which is a cinematic, human-driven piece that shows how we bring one of IBM’s largest global events to life. My goal was to capture the complexity, the beauty, the scale, and the intense ownership behind this event, and reveal the craft that most people never see.

TechXchange 2025 brought together more than 10,000 participants across Champions, Hackathons, Student Dev Day, partner programs, and major product announcements. I designed a production model that blends disciplined planning with creative improvisation — part documentary, part cinematic experiment, part emotional time capsule.

Across 250,000+ square feet of venue space, I directed a multi-crew operation spanning drones, FPV flights, timelapses, roaming cameras, a lightboard studio, comedic skits, and high-pressure main stage environments. We captured 100+ interviews, built a content library for year-round marketing, and published daily sizzles in real time — enhanced productivity with AI tools like IBM Consultant Advantage, Topaz, Adobe Podcast, and AI-guided drone routes.

At its core, this film is about people, all the participants, presenters, students, engineers, Champions, and the production team working behind the curtain to capture moments as they happen.

And none of this is possible without the people who power TechXchange. Deep gratitude to Amaris “Amy” Tennison and the TechXchange team for their trust, partnership, and vision. To Angie Borman, Jeannine Kilbride, David Jenness and the extraordinary content team, the Champions program, whose energy fuels the heartbeat of the event — Libby Ingrassia, Kathryn DuPont, M.A., PCC, ICD.D Alex Gorman. And of course, J. Graeme Noseworthy, whose enthusiasm is impossible to keep up with and absolutely contagious.