Disney Beefs Up Tech Ambitions With Newly Created CTO Role

Disney DIS -2.34%decrease; red down pointing triangle has hired the head of artificial-intelligence company Character.AI to be its first ever chief technology officer, as Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro tries to improve the entertainment giant’s digital prowess.

Karandeep Anand will oversee Disney’s internal technology and infrastructure, data and AI platforms, and product and engineering teams, reporting directly to D’Amaro, the company said Friday.

Disney said “a number of” Anand’s technical team from Character.AI will also join the entertainment company. Before leading Character.AI, Anand held executive roles at Meta and Microsoft. He was appointed CEO of Character.AI in June 2025.

The startup allows users to interact with AI-powered chatbot avatars ranging from real people like Elon Musk to anime characters and a generic therapist.

Earlier this year, Character.AI and Google, which licensed the startup’s technology in an earlier deal, settled lawsuits with the families of teenagers who killed or harmed themselves after interacting with Character.AI’s chatbot. The incidents were before Anand’s tenure.

Disney said Anand led Character.AI through a period of rapid growth “while also making user trust and safety a priority as the platform scaled.”

D’Amaro, who became CEO in March, has said Disney needs to move faster to directly connect with fans online, rather than just relying on its traditional strength in theme parks and on movie screens. One of his top priorities is making Disney+ a consumer touchpoint for all of the company’s businesses, not just television.

A challenge reaching that goal has been that different business units have long run their technology with significant degrees of independence. The company has also announced technology initiatives that fizzled, like an integration with OpenAI’s scrapped video app Sora, or have yet to bear fruit, like a virtual world in development with “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.

Disney said Anand will modernize how it builds and delivers technology companywide.

On Thursday, Disney promoted former Google and YouTube executive Adam Smith to chairman of its streaming business, putting another Silicon Valley veteran in a senior position.