Starbucks has appointed Indian-origin technology executive Anand Varadarajan as its new executive vice president and chief technology officer (CTO), tapping a nearly two-decade Amazon veteran to lead its global technology operations. He has been named to the company’s Executive Leadership Team and has been set to report directly to chief executive officer Brian Niccol.
Varadarajan has been slated to assume the role on January 19 and has succeeded Deb Hall Lefevre, who retired in September. Starbucks has said the appointment is aimed at strengthening its global technology leadership.
At Amazon, Varadarajan has spent close to 19 years building large-scale, customer-focused technology platforms and has most recently overseen technology and supply chain for the Worldwide Grocery Stores business. He has earlier worked as a software engineer at Oracle and with several startups.
Starbucks has said Varadarajan brings deep experience in developing secure and reliable systems and in scaling technology to support operational excellence while keeping customers at the centre.
Starbucks has added that his appointment is expected to accelerate its technology initiatives and strengthen digital capabilities across its global business.
