Karandeep Anand became CEO of Character.AI in June 2025, taking over a consumer AI platform built around user-created conversational characters. Before joining Character.AI, Anand held senior product leadership roles at Meta and Microsoft, bringing large-scale consumer-platform experience to a company navigating rapid growth alongside increasing scrutiny of AI companion products' effects on younger users.
In September 2026, Anand announced he would leave Character.AI to become Disney's first Chief Technology Officer, effective October 2026, a departure that leaves the company's next leadership step still unresolved as of this writing.