The Walt Disney Company has appointed former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer, placing him in charge of enterprise technology, infrastructure, and artificial intelligence platforms as the entertainment giant pushes deeper into digital products ahead of a major Super Bowl broadcast.
In a high-profile executive shuffle, The Walt Disney Company named Karandeep Anand its senior executive vice president and chief technology officer. Anand steps into the newly created role on October 2, reporting directly to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took over after former company chief Bob Iger stepped down in March. The appointment marks a significant transition for Anand, who most recently served as the chief executive officer of Character.AI, a company founded in 2021.
The hire brings an intriguing institutional irony. Character.AI weathered numerous legal problems during Anand’s tenure, including a cease and desist letter sent by Disney in September 2025 accusing the startup of infringing on its beloved characters. Character.AI allows users to create distinct virtual characters with generative AI and talk and interact with them, and Disney previously claimed that the company was hosting copyrighted characters from its franchises. In addition to Disney’s accusations, Character.AI has also been sued over allegations that the company’s chatbots encouraged users to commit self-harm and suicide. Despite those past legal headwinds, D’Amaro selected Anand to steer Disney’s technological evolution, signaling a decisive corporate pivot toward generative artificial intelligence and digital modernization.
Disney's first CTO led an AI startup it once
Karandeep Anand’s Enterprise Technology Remand at Disney
Anand will oversee a broad expanse of Disney’s digital apparatus, including enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence platforms, product development, and engineering operations. He will work with technology teams across the company’s business segments to support the modernisation of Disney’s technology development and delivery. D’Amaro defended the choice by pointing to the executive’s extensive background across Silicon Valley giants.
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,” D’Amaro said. “He is an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded<
Josh D’Amaro, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company
Before leading Character.AI—which he joined as a board adviser before becoming CEO—Anand logged fifteen years at Microsoft building cloud computing and infrastructure products. He subsequently spent time at Meta—serving as vice president of Ads & Business Products within the Facebook ecosystem—and later operated as president and chief product officer at financial technology firm Brex.
Every NFL Team Has a Disney Character Drafted to
Merging Pop Culture and Fandoms in the Disney x Champion NFL Collection
While executive suites shift gears toward artificial intelligence, Disney’s consumer products division is making waves on a different front: sports merchandise. A branding deal was announced that will align all 32 NFL teams with an iconic Disney character for a new line of apparel, which is on sale now. The company, alongside the NFL, Champion, and Fanatics, has finalized the rollout of the Disney x Champion NFL Collection, completing a lineup that matches all 32 NFL teams with characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars, including tees, crewnecks, and fleece for every team.
The collaboration kicked off live at Fanatics Fest 2026 through an on-site Disney Fan Draft hosted by Roger Goodell and Taylor Rooks, with current and past players from the NFL to draft Disney characters to represent the teams. Bret Healey, Director of Graphic Design, Disney Consumer Products, explained that every pairing was inspired by the qualities, traditions, and fan culture that define each NFL team, as well as the shared personalities, traits, and stories that connect these teams with beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters.
| NFL Franchise | Assigned Disney / Marvel / Star Wars Character |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | Beast |
| Miami Dolphins | King Triton |
| New England Patriots | Captain America |
| New York Jets | Buzz Lightyear |
| Baltimore Ravens | Diaval and Maleficent |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Shere Khan |
| Cleveland Browns | Pluto |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Pete |
| Houston Texans | Jessie |
| Indianapolis Colts | Horace Horsecollar |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Pepita |
| Tennessee Titans | Thanos |
| Denver Broncos | Maximus |
| Kansas City Chiefs | Big Bad Wolf |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Darth Vader |
| Los Angeles Chargers | Hercules and Pegasus |
| Dallas Cowboys | Woody |
| New York Giants | Wreck-It Ralph |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Doctor Doom |
| Green Bay Packers | Chewbacca |
Disney x Champion NFL Collection
Staggered Merchandise Rollout and the Road to Super Bowl
Apparel items including tees, crewnecks, and fleece are currently available online and at select retailers nationwide.
This merchandise push is not happening in a vacuum. Disney frames the collection as part of a major push across the hobby as Disney Consumer Products, the NFL, Champion, and Fanatics revealed the remaining team-character pairings in the Disney, Champion, and NFL Collection, completing the first-ever collaboration pairing all 32 NFL teams with iconic Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters.
