Starbucks has named Indian-origin technology leader Anand Varadarajan as its new executive vice president and chief technology officer (CTO), bringing on board a seasoned executive with nearly two decades of experience at Amazon to head its global technology operations.
Varadarajan will assume the role on January 19, join Starbucks’ Executive Leadership Team, and report directly to Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol, the company said. He replaces Deb Hall Lefevre, who retired in September.
During his almost 19-year tenure at Amazon, Varadarajan played a key role in building large-scale, customer-centric technology platforms. Most recently, he led technology and supply chain operations for Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores business. Earlier in his career, he worked as a software engineer at Oracle and was associated with several startups.
According to Starbucks, Varadarajan brings extensive expertise in developing secure and reliable systems and scaling technology to drive operational excellence while keeping customers at the centre of innovation.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Varadarajan holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Washington.
Starbucks said his appointment is expected to accelerate the company’s technology initiatives and further strengthen its digital capabilities across its global operations.