Disney names Karandeep Anand as first-ever CTO

On Friday, The Walt Disney Company announced that Karandeep Anand will assume the role of the company's first-ever Chief Technology Officer, starting on October 2. The newly created executive vice president position will report directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro. Anand, who recently served as CEO of Character.AI, will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data, AI platforms, product, and engineering, coordinating with technology teams across various Disney segments. Several of Character.AI's technical staff are expected to join Disney under his leadership.

Anand's career spans consumer technology, infrastructure, and AI. Prior to Character.AI, he served as president and chief product officer at Brex, a financial technology firm. His experience also includes senior positions at Facebook, where he held the vice president roles for ads and business products, as well as a 15-year tenure at Microsoft, contributing to the development of the Azure cloud-computing platform.

The company lauded Anand's unique blend of infrastructure, consumer technology, and AI expertise, viewing him as a valuable addition to Disney's senior leadership team.

D'Amaro, who assumed the CEO role in March, has made technology a central driver of growth across the company. With Disney+ at the core of this strategy, D'Amaro has emphasized building direct relationships with fans through enhanced digital experiences. The appointment of Anand is particularly notable given Disney's previous legal conflict with Character.AI, which reportedly occurred about a year before his hiring.

Disney had issued a cease-and-desist letter, alleging unauthorized use of Disney characters, but the startup complied and removed the flagged characters.

This appointment marks Disney's first ever company-wide Chief Technology Officer position. Previously, the most senior technology role at Disney was held by Adam Smith, who was promoted to chairman of direct-to-consumer for Disney Entertainment, focusing on the streaming business. Anand's appointment comes amid Disney's ongoing reshaping of its executive ranks.

Earlier this year, the company offered voluntary early retirement packages to longtime executives as part of a cost-reduction effort, which also included involuntary layoffs across marketing, corporate functions, Pixar, National Geographic, and ESPN.