Disney Taps Character.AI CEO for Top Tech Role

The Walt Disney Company has appointed Karandeep Anand as its new Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Anand will join Disney on October 2, reporting directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro.

In his new role, Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data, and AI platforms, product, and engineering across Disney's entertainment businesses.

Anand brings a unique combination of experience in generative AI, consumer products, and large-scale cloud infrastructure. He led Character.AI through rapid audience growth while emphasizing user trust and safety. Before that, he was President and Chief Product Officer at fintech company Brex, and held leadership roles at Meta's Facebook.

D'Amaro says Anand's experience will be vital in applying technology across Disney's streaming, entertainment, customer relationships, and internal operations. Disney aims to maintain its focus on storytelling while putting technology in service of creativity and operating more cohesively across the company.