Walt Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand as its first chief technology officer, a newly created role, the company confirmed on September 18. Anand steps into the job from Character.AI, the chatbot startup he led as chief executive. The appointment was made by Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s new chief executive, and signals the company’s intent to place technology closer to the centre of its strategy.
Anand became chief executive of Character.AI in 2025, having first advised the company as a board member. Before that he spent six years at Meta, from 2015 to 2021, and around 15 years at Microsoft. His background sits in enterprise software and consumer platforms rather than film or television, a departure from the traditional route into Disney’s senior ranks and a sign of how the company views its priorities.
The hire carries an unusual backstory. In September 2025, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter alleging that the startup’s chatbots infringed copyright by drawing on its characters. Anand led the company through that period before crossing over to the media group that had raised the complaint, a move that drew attention across the technology and entertainment industries.
Disney has been investing in streaming, theme-park technology and data as it competes with both traditional studios and technology companies. A dedicated technology chief gives the company a single executive responsible for those systems, which increasingly underpin the customer experience across its parks, apps and services. The role’s remit and reporting line were not detailed at the time of the announcement, and Anand did not comment publicly. Rivals including Netflix and large technology firms have built sizeable engineering teams that Disney now aims to match.
The appointment reflects a broader trend of media companies recruiting leaders from the technology sector as artificial intelligence reshapes how content is made, distributed and personalised. For Disney, the challenge is to apply those tools without undermining the creative work and intellectual property that remain the core of its business. The company has said little about how far it intends to use generative AI in production, an area that has caused friction across Hollywood. The company employs tens of thousands of people across its studios, parks and streaming operations.
