Disney names CTO for the first time as media giant expands tech push

Thomas Fuller | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesDisney is looking to increase its foothold in the technology space with its latest hire. The media giant said Friday it hired Karandeep Anand, most recently CEO of Character.AI, effective Oct. 2 as senior executive vice president and chief technology officer. The newly created position in the Mouse House's C-suite will report directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro. The leadership expansion comes months after D'Amaro took the top post at Disney and emphasized the need to embrace technology to advance all parts of the company. Disney said Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence platforms, product and engineering at Disney, and will work across across various tech teams to "further modernize how Disney builds and delivers technology company-wide.""Karandeep brings a rare mix of experience across infrastructure, consumer technology and AI, and will be a vital addition to Disney's senior leadership team as we further our three priorities: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney," D'Amaro said in Friday's release.D'Amaro's immediate goal has be...