The Walt Disney Company has named former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its first chief technology officer, effective October 2. Reporting directly to CEO Josh D’Amaro, Anand will oversee enterprise technology, artificial intelligence, and streaming infrastructure as the media giant accelerates its digital and technological integration.
Karandeep Anand Takes the Newly Created CTO Role
Disney is expanding its C-suite by creating a newly created position in the Mouse House’s C-suite, tapping Karandeep Anand as senior executive vice president and chief technology officer. Anand steps into the role after leading Character.AI as its chief executive officer, bringing a background that includes senior product and engineering stints at Meta, Microsoft, and financial technology firm Brex.
The newly created position in the Mouse House’s C-suite will report directly to CEO Josh D’Amaro. The leadership expansion comes months after D’Amaro took the top post at Disney and emphasized the need to embrace technology to advance all parts of the company. Disney said Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence platforms, product and engineering at Disney, and will work across various tech teams to further modernize how Disney builds and delivers technology company-wide.
“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 in a statement. D’Amaro added that Anand is an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want
and 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.
The appointment places Anand at the helm of enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence platforms, product, and engineering across the studio’s segment technology teams. A number of Character.AI’s technical team will follow Anand to Disney from Oct. 2. Anand holds a Computer Science degree from the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad, India, and previously worked at Microsoft for 15 years, where he was part of the team that built the Azure platform.
“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. 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,” Anand said in his own statement.
Generative AI and the Digital Centerpiece at Disney+
The executive reshuffle coincides with an unfolding era of generative AI tools across the entertainment industry. Since taking the top post at Disney, D’Amaro has maintained Disney’s momentum in its core growth areas — particularly streaming and parks, which have helped lift the company’s earnings in recent quarters. In March, D’Amaro outlined his strategy and focused on the importance of Disney’s storytelling and intellectual property to all parts of the business, as well as expanding its concentration in tech to fuel growth.
Disney+ serves as the digital centerpiece for these strategic initiatives. D’Amaro has said Disney is considering a free, ad-supported tier for its Disney+ streaming service as a so-called “front porch” to get more consumers onto the platform. On Thursday, Disney also named Adam Smith as chairman of its direct-to-consumer for Disney Entertainment, overseeing the streaming business.
Executives have also teased that streaming and shopping will be integrated on Disney+, and more details are expected to come in the spring. At an investor conference earlier this month, CFO Hugh Johnston called it an integrated ecosystem
under the Disney+ banner, which would bring together TV and film content with consumer products, Disney’s parks and cruises, and interacting with Disney’s library of intellectual property in various ways, including gaming.
Prior Clashes and Past Platform Growth
Anand’s arrival follows a tenure at Character.AI managing a period of explosive growth, building one of the most engaged consumer-AI audiences in the world, while also making user trust and safety a priority at the platform.
The relationship between Disney and Anand’s former company has experienced friction in the past. Last year, Disney sent a cease and desist letter to the startup as a warning to stop using its copyrighted characters without authorization. Character.AI told CNBC it removed the mentioned characters in Disney’s letter, with a spokesperson acknowledging at the time that while some characters on its platform are completely original creations, others are inspired by existing characters that people love.
With Anand now managing enterprise tech and AI platforms, Disney aims to harness generative tools and technical infrastructure directly in-house while modernizing how the studio builds and delivers digital products company-wide.
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