Disney is turning a new page in its technology story. The entertainment giant has appointed Indian-origin technology executive Karandeep Anand as its first-ever Chief Technology Officer, creating a company-wide role that places technology, AI and digital innovation closer to the centre of its operations.
🚀 A New Technology Chapter for Disney
Anand will join The Walt Disney Company as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer on October 2, 2026, reporting directly to CEO Josh D’Amaro. The position is newly created and gives Anand a broad mandate across Disney’s technology ecosystem.
🔹 Enterprise technology and infrastructure
🔹 Data and AI platforms
🔹 Product development
🔹 Engineering
🔹 Technology systems across Disney’s business segments
The appointment comes as Disney increases its emphasis on technology as a driver of growth and seeks to create more connected experiences for audiences across its businesses, with Disney+ playing an important role in that strategy.
🧠 From Microsoft and Meta to Character.AI
Anand’s career spans several major technology companies and industries.
💻 Microsoft: Anand spent around 15 years in senior product and engineering roles and was involved in the development of the Azure cloud platform.
🌐 Meta: He later held multiple leadership positions at Facebook, ultimately serving as Vice President of Ads & Business Products.
💳 Brex: Anand then became President and Chief Product Officer at fintech company Brex, expanding his experience into financial technology.
🤖 Character.AI: Before Disney, he served as CEO of Character.AI, a generative-AI platform built around interactive conversations with AI characters.
This combination of cloud infrastructure, consumer products, fintech and artificial intelligence forms the core of the experience he now brings to Disney.
🇮🇳 From IIIT Hyderabad to a Global Tech Role
Anand is an alumnus of the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, where he earned a computer science degree. India Today reported that he graduated in 2003 with a BTech (Honours) in Computer Science and Engineering.
His journey from an Indian technology institution to the top technology role at one of the world’s most recognisable entertainment companies has also drawn attention in India.
🎬 Where Technology Meets Storytelling
Disney says Anand’s role will focus on modernising how the company develops and delivers technology across its operations. Several members of Character.AI’s technical team are also expected to join Disney.
Anand has said that he has admired Disney for its ability to combine storytelling with technology and wants to help the company connect audiences with its stories and characters through new experiences.
🔄 A Remarkable Industry Twist
There is also an unusual connection between Anand’s previous company and his new employer. In 2025, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter over the unauthorised use of Disney characters on the platform. Character.AI subsequently removed the characters.
Now, roughly a year later, the former Character.AI CEO is moving into Disney’s newly created technology leadership position—a striking development as entertainment companies increasingly navigate the opportunities and challenges created by generative AI.
Karandeep Anand’s appointment signals more than the creation of a new executive title. It places AI, data, infrastructure and engineering under a unified company-wide technology leadership structure at Disney.
For Anand, October 2 marks the beginning of a new chapter. For Disney, it marks the beginning of its first company-wide CTO era.
