Starbucks announced on Friday the appointment of Anand Varadarajan as its new Chief Technology Officer, effective January 19, 2026. Varadarajan will step in to lead the company’s technology division, replacing Deb Hall Lefevre, who resigned in September. In the interim, Ningyu Chen had been serving as the acting CTO.
CEO Brian Niccol highlighted that Varadarajan will serve as executive vice president and a key member of Starbucks’ Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to him. This appointment aligns with Niccol’s strategy to revamp store technology and improve labour efficiency across Starbucks locations.
Varadarajan comes to Starbucks with an extensive 19-year tenure at Amazon, where he led technology and supply chain operations for its global grocery division. His experience also spans software engineering roles at Oracle and contributions to multiple startups. Early in his career, he was a Senior Software Engineer at Viquity Inc., designing B2B supply chain messaging protocols and full RosettaNet protocol stacks.
Academically, Varadarajan holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Washington and a Master’s in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, having completed his undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology. Outside of work, he is an avid runner, aiming to complete all seven World Marathon Majors, and enjoys coffee, often starting his day with a latte and having Starbucks egg bites for lunch.
Starbucks recently posted its first quarter of comparable sales growth after nearly 18 months, reflecting early returns from Niccol’s turnaround initiatives in the U.S. With Varadarajan onboard, the company aims to accelerate its technology-led transformations to further enhance operational efficiency, customer experience, and store innovation worldwide.
