The Walt Disney Company has announced that Karandeep Anand will be its new Chief Technology Officer. Anand was most recently the CEO of Character.AI and was a former technology leader at Meta and Microsoft. His new title at Disney will be Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. This is a new position created for the House of Mouse. It comes as new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro continues to mold the company to fit his vision for the future. This is a vision that includes using technology to connect with Disney fans. Anand will start the new position on October 2nd and will report directly to D’Amaro.
“Karandeep brings a rare mix of experience across infrastructure, consumer technology and AI, and will be a vital addition to Disney’s senior leadership team as we further our three priorities: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney,” said D’Amaro. “He is an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want. He also has real enthusiasm and respect for Disney, a clear sense of where technology and creativity meet, and shares our belief that technology creates the most value when it helps people do their best work.”
In his new role as Chief Technology Officer, Anand will be tasked with overseeing quite a bit. This includes:
- enterprise technology
- infrastructure
- data and AI platforms
- product
- engineering
He will also work across the company’s segment technology teams to continue to modernize how Disney builds and delivers technology company-wide. Anand is expected to bring multiple members of the Character.AI technical team with him to Disney. This is in line with D’Amaro’s continued focus on using technology to drive growth for the company. A hallmark of his short time in the top spot at Disney has been his focus on deepening Disney’s direct relationships with fans. This is being done by creating a more connected Disney experience. Disney+ is the centerpiece of this digital experience.
“I’ve admired Disney my entire life for how it blends unforgettable storytelling with the latest technology to constantly push the boundaries of what entertainment can be,” Anand said. “I’m honored to join a team with such extraordinary creative talent, and I look forward to building on the company’s impressive technology capabilities to help Disney connect fans worldwide with its beloved stories and characters in new and innovative ways.”
Under Anand’s leadership, Character.AI saw a time of explosive growth. This led to the creation of one of the most engaged consumer-AI audiences globally. It also prioritized user trust and safety as the platform continued to grow. Before this role, he was President and Chief Product Officer of Brex, a financial technology company. Throughout his career, he has also held leadership roles at Meta’s Facebook. His most recent role there was Vice President of Ads & Business Products. Earlier in his career, he held senior product and engineering leadership roles during his 15 years at Microsoft. During this time, he was part of the team that built the Azure platform. Anand holds a degree in Computer Science from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad.
What do you think of Karandeep Anand joining The Walt Disney Company in this new role? What do you think of this new role at Disney? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
