Starbucks appoints Anand Varadarajan as chief technology officer
Starbucks has appointed Anand Varadarajan as its new executive vice president and chief technology officer. He will lead the company's global technology operations, take charge on January 19, join the Executive Leadership Team and report directly to CEO Brian Niccol. He succeeds Deb Hall Lefevre, who retired in September. Starbucks said the appointment is expected to accelerate its technology initiatives and strengthen digital capabilities across its global business.
The appointment
- Effective
- January 19
- Succeeds
- Deb Hall Lefevre
- Reports to
- Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol
- Announced
- 22 December 2025
Key details
- New role
- Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
- Company
- Starbucks
- Start date
- January 19
- Reports to
- CEO Brian Niccol
- Predecessor
- Deb Hall Lefevre (retired in September)
- Prior tenure at Amazon
- Close to 19 years
- Executive Leadership Team
- Joins the company's Executive Leadership Team
Career so far
- executive vice president and chief technology officer (CTO)Starbucks · from Dec 2025
- technology and supply chain oversight for Worldwide Grocery StoresAmazon
- software engineerOracle
- software engineerseveral startups
Varadarajan spent close to 19 years at Amazon building large-scale, customer-focused technology platforms. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and holds a master's degree in civil engineering from Purdue University and a master's degree in computer science from the University of Washington.
About Starbucks
Coffeehouse chain.
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Based on company announcements, filings and reporting by ET Retail. Details were checked against the source on 13 Nov 2026; we add nothing the source does not state.
Key facts
- Company
- Starbucks
- Person
- Anand Varadarajan
- New role
- executive vice president and chief technology officer (CTO)
- Type
- Appointed
- Date
- 22 Dec 2025
- Source
- Media reports
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