The Walt Disney Company has announced that Karandeep Anand will join the company as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, a newly created position, effective October 2.

Anand, who most recently has served as CEO of Character.AI, will report directly to Disney Chief Executive Officer Josh D’Amaro, according to a company statement issued late last week.

“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,” said D’Amaro.

“He is an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want. He also has real enthusiasm and respect for Disney, a clear sense of where technology and creativity meet, and shares our belief that technology creates the most value when it helps people do their best work,” D’Amaro added.

As Chief Technology Officer, Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and AI platforms, product, and engineering, working across the company’s segment technology teams to further modernize how Disney builds and delivers technology company-wide.

Along with Anand’s appointment, a number of Character.AI’s technical team are expected to join Disney. The move comes as D’Amaro is sharpening Disney’s focus on technology as a driver of growth across the company.

“I’ve admired Disney my entire life for how it blends unforgettable storytelling with the latest technology to constantly push the boundaries of what entertainment can be,” Anand said, adding he looks forward to building on the company’s impressive technology capabilities to help Disney connect fans worldwide with its beloved stories and characters.

Anand led Character.AI through a period of explosive growth, building one of the most engaged consumer-AI audiences in the world, while also making user trust and safety a priority as the platform scaled.

Before Character.AI, he was President and Chief Product Officer of the financial technology company Brex. He also served in several leadership roles at Meta’s Facebook, most recently as Vice President of Ads & Business Products.