New Delhi, Sept. 22 -- The Walt Disney Company has appointed Karandeep Anand as its first Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The Indian-origin tech executive will step into the newly created role on October 2. In an official statement Disney announced, "The Walt Disney Company today 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." Anand will report directly to Disney Chief Executive Officer Josh D'Amaro. Talking about the appointment, the CEO said, "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." The exec added, "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." According to Anand's LinkedIn profile, he completed his bachelor's degree in computer science from International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad. He then received training on marketing from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management. He started his career as an intern at Microsoft. He worked with the tech giant for over 15 years and quit the company as a director of product management. Following which, he worked at Meta (Facebook) for more than six years. He is now set to join Disney. The tech executive took to LinkedIn to express his reactions to his new job. "Today, I'm excited to share that I'm joining The Walt Disney Company in a new role as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, and I expect members of Character's technical team to join me as well."...