Walt Disney on Friday named outsider Karandeep Anand its first chief technology officer, as AI and sweeping industry consolidation disrupt the media world.
Anand will join Disney on October 2 as senior executive vice president and CTO, reporting directly to CEO Josh D’Amaro. He will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data management and AI platforms, as well as product and engineering across Disney’s businesses.
D’Amaro called Anand “an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want.”
Who is Karandeep Anand?
The world of technology, including AI, is not new to Anand. Before joining Disney, he served as chief executive officer of Character.AI, a generative AI chatbot service that allows users to interact with artificially created characters.
His appointment has a very unusual connection to Disney. In September last year, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter over the startup’s unauthorised use of Disney characters. Following the move, Character.AI removed the characters from the platform.
The startup has also faced legal scrutiny over chatbot safety. In January, Character.AI and Google settled lawsuits brought by families who accused it of harming minors, including allegations that the technology caused the suicide of a Florida teenager.
However, neither Character.AI nor Google disclosed the terms of the settlement and admitted no liability.
Before Character.AI, Anand held senior positions in some major technology companies. He spent 15 years at Microsoft, where he helped build the Azure platform. He later worked at Facebook, where he served as vice president for ads and business products.
Earlier, he served as president and chief product officer at fintech company Brex, adding experience in financial technology and product development to his portfolio.
What will be Anand’s role in Disney?
At Disney, Anand will take on a role that did not previously exist at the corporate level. Disney has had chief technology officers overseeing individual business units, but never a single CTO responsible for technology across the entertainment conglomerate.
A number of Character.AI’s technical staff are also expected to follow Anand to Disney.
Anand’s appointment reflects how D’Amaro has prioritised harnessing technology. In his previous role as head of theme parks and cruises, D’Amaro led the company’s investment in video-game maker Epic Games. D’Amaro plans to turn the company’s Disney streaming service into a hub for not just movies and TV shows, but gaming and other experiences.
Leave a Reply