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Karandeep Anand Named Disney's First Company-Wide CTO, IIIT Hyderabad Alumnus to Lead Tech Strategy
- •Karandeep Anand, an IIIT Hyderabad alumnus, has been appointed Disney's first company-wide Chief Technology Officer, effective October 2.
- •In this newly created role, Anand will report directly to Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro and oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data, AI platforms, product, and engineering.
- •Anand's extensive career includes senior technology and product leadership roles at Microsoft, Meta, Brex, and Character.AI, where he was CEO.
- •His appointment aims to strengthen the technology connecting Disney's entertainment, sports, streaming, and experiences businesses.
- •Anand graduated from IIIT Hyderabad in 2003 and was recently named a recipient of its 2026 Alumni Achiever Award for his contributions to technology leadership.
Key Questions Answered
Karandeep Anand has been appointed as Disney's first company-wide Chief Technology Officer, a newly created position starting on October 2. He will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data, AI platforms, product, and engineering to connect Disney's entertainment, sports, streaming, and experiences businesses.
Before joining Disney, Anand served as CEO of Character.AI, President and Chief Product Officer at Brex, Vice President of Ads and Business Products at Meta, and spent 15 years in product and engineering leadership at Microsoft.
Anand graduated from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) in 2003 with a BTech (Honours) in Computer Science and Engineering. He was also named a recipient of IIIT Hyderabad's 2026 Alumni Achiever Award.
