Disney appoints Karandeep Anand as its first chief technology officer — TechCrunch
Disney has appointed former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as the company's first-ever chief technology officer. TechCrunch reports.
Experience at Character.AI
Anand headed Character.AI, a company that enables users to create virtual characters using generative artificial intelligence, communicate and interact with them. According to his LinkedIn profile, he initially served as an adviser to Character.AI's board and became CEO in May 2025.
In September 2025, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter, accusing the company of infringing its intellectual property rights. Disney stated that the platform hosted copyrighted characters from its franchises.
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Character.AI has also been named in lawsuits whose plaintiffs claimed that the company's chatbots encouraged users to self-harm and commit suicide. These claims are the subject of litigation.
Previous career
As Variety reports, Anand was selected for the position by Disney's new CEO Josh D'Amaro, who took over the company after Bob Iger left the post in March. Before working at Character.AI, Anand worked at Facebook from 2015 to 2021, and before that at Microsoft for 15 years.
