Disney has established the role of Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the company for the first time, appointing Karandeep Anand, formerly the CEO of Character.AI, to this position. His start date is scheduled for October 2nd, and he will report directly to CEO Josh D’Amaro.
Anand will be responsible for overseeing several crucial areas, including corporate technology, infrastructure, data management, artificial intelligence platforms, products, and engineering. This hiring is part of a restructuring process that also covers the streaming sector.
Josh D’Amaro emphasized Anand's valuable experience in infrastructure, consumer technology, and artificial intelligence. During his time at Character.AI, he led a period of intense company growth. D’Amaro told employees that 'Karandeep brings a rare combination of experience in infrastructure, consumer technology, and AI.'
Within Disney, the executive will collaborate with the technology teams across all segments, with one of his missions being to modernize how the company develops and delivers technology. Before joining Character.AI, Anand served as president and product director at the fintech Brex. Additionally, he has a leadership background at Meta and accumulated over 15 years of experience at Microsoft, where he participated in the creation of Azure.
D’Amaro also highlighted Anand's profile for his ability to integrate technical knowledge with product development, describing him as an expert strategist and builder, possessing both technical and product vision, as well as a strong sense for understanding people's real needs.
This appointment comes one day after other changes in Disney's organization. Adam Smith was selected to lead the streaming business. Concurrently, Joe Earley, who shared the co-president role for the direct-to-consumer area with Smith, assumed the presidency of franchises and content strategy for the television and entertainment division. Platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu are directly related to this reorganization.
Anand's tenure at Character.AI has an episode linked to Disney itself. In September 2025, the company sent a cease and desist notification to Character.AI due to the unauthorized use of its characters in AI-generated videos, a request that Character.AI complied with.
Officially, Anand will begin his duties on October 2nd, maintaining D’Amaro as his immediate supervisor. His new role will consolidate corporate technology, infrastructure, data, AI platforms, products, and engineering under his purview.
