For years, watching Netflix was almost a passive ritual: pick a show, hit “play,” and let the algorithm do its magic. But the conversation between Elizabeth Stone, Netflix’s Chief Technology Officer, and Connie Loizos, editor at TechCrunch, made it clear that those days are over.

Today, the company is rethinking its foundations to step into a new era — one defined by live and participatory content. And it’s not just a cosmetic or format shift. It’s a deeper transformation, a new way of understanding digital entertainment. Behind it all lie data, engineering, and a kind of leadership that’s rare, even in Silicon Valley.

From Economics to Code

Elizabeth Stone didn’t come from a lab or a film set. Her path began in economics: she holds a Ph.D. from Stanford and worked as a trader at Merrill Lynch before moving into technology. That unconventional journey, far from being a detour, is exactly what shapes her perspective.

“Economics teaches you to find stories in the data, not just to count it,” she explained. That mindset runs through everything she does. For Stone, technology isn’t an end in itself or a display of complexity — it’s a tool that must serve a clear business strategy.

That way of thinking explains why, at Netflix, engineers, data scientists, and business strategists no longer work in silos. Stone brings them all to the same table. Because, in the end, real innovation doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens in the conversations that connect technology with business priorities: global expansion, immersive experiences, and sustainable growth.

And as she puts it herself, it’s not just about programming to entertain — it’s about understanding what drives millions of people to stay in front of a screen, episode after episode.

The Invisible Muscle: OpenConnect

To truly understand Netflix’s strength, you have to look beyond the screen. Behind the endless catalog and those late-night binges lies a system almost no one knows about: OpenConnect.

More than a decade ago, Netflix made a decision that changed its trajectory. Instead of relying entirely on external services, it bet on building its own distribution network. It was a risky move—but also a visionary one. Today, that infrastructure is the invisible backbone supporting millions of simultaneous streams across the globe.

Elizabeth Stone explained it simply: OpenConnect was the key that allowed Netflix to scale its video-on-demand model. And now, it’s the same system making the next frontier possible—live streaming.

The challenge, however, is no small feat. “Our system was designed for on-demand content, not for simultaneous events with millions of active connections,” Stone admitted. The difference is enormous: while a series can be delivered with some flexibility, a live event demands surgical precision.

Even so, the results speak for themselves. After the Paul–Tyson fight —with over 65 million concurrent streams— Netflix pulled off what few thought possible: broadcasting two NFL games on Christmas Day without a single glitch. “It was a moment of total pressure,” Stone recalled, “but also a demonstration of technological maturity.”

And that’s where the magic lies: what feels like a simple click and a smooth screen for the viewer is, for Netflix, the outcome of years of quiet engineering. OpenConnect doesn’t seek applause—but without it, the story of streaming would look very different.

From Spectator to Participant

The technological leap Elizabeth Stone talked about isn’t just a technical advance. It’s the beginning of a whole new paradigm. Netflix wants us to stop being mere spectators and start becoming part of the story.

The return of Star Search, scheduled for 2026, will be the first big test of that vision. But it won’t be a nostalgic revival of the classic show — this time, the audience will be able to vote in real time, from their TV or phone. What used to be a screen will now become a doorway to interaction.

Stone explained it with disarming simplicity: “We want members to feel like they’re part of the story — like they can actually influence it.” And that idea extends to Netflix’s new cloud gaming experiments, where your phone turns into a remote control and your living room becomes a kind of shared arena. Everything connected, everything live. It’s no coincidence that these projects are built on the same infrastructure that powers its movies and series. At Netflix, technology doesn’t just support stories — it brings them to life.

Netflix’s Bet: Living the Content

Netflix doesn’t want to be the platform with the biggest catalog. It wants to be the one offering the most unique experiences. Every live event, every game, every contest becomes a testing ground to explore new ways of engaging audiences.

For now, live content still makes up a small part of Netflix’s library, but its symbolic weight is enormous. It represents something streaming had left behind: the thrill of a shared moment. In a world where everything is always available, now has become a luxury. Watching something as it happens feels special again.

For viewers, this means a more active role — it’s no longer just about choosing what to watch, but how to be part of it. For Netflix, it means a major technical challenge, but also an opportunity: every interaction leaves a trace, a signal of what moves people. And those traces are, at their core, new ways of understanding the bond between stories and the humans who live them.

A New Technological Culture

Stone’s greatest achievement isn’t just in the systems she builds — it’s in the culture she fosters. Netflix, she says, is a company that learns by doing. “There’s no way to test 65 million streams in a lab,” she laughed. And she’s right. Growth at that scale can only happen in the real world — with all the uncertainty that comes with it.

That trust in her team, that willingness to fail fast and learn even faster, is the same spirit that took Netflix from mailing DVDs to reinventing global entertainment.

Her conversation with Connie Loizos wasn’t a press announcement. It was a snapshot of transformation. Netflix is leaving behind the era of passive consumption and stepping into the era of participation — guided by a CTO who thinks like an economist, measuring success not in clicks, but in something far more human: connection.