Starbucks Taps Anand Varadarajan As New CTO

India-West News Desk

SEATTLE, WA -Starbucks has appointed technology executive Anand Varadarajan as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, effective January 19.

The move marks a key leadership transition as the global coffee chain accelerates its technology transformation. The appointment was announced by CEO Brian Niccol, who confirmed that Varadarajan will join the Executive Leadership Team and report directly to him.

Varadarajan succeeds Deb Hall Lefevre, who retired in September. The transition comes as the company continues efforts to modernize in-store technology to improve labor efficiency and operations.

Varadarajan joins the coffee giant after nearly 19 years at Amazon, where he focused on customer-centric design and operational agility. His earlier career includes software engineering roles at Oracle and work with several startups.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Varadarajan holds master’s degrees in civil engineering from Purdue University and computer science from the University of Washington. Outside of work, he is an avid runner aiming to complete all seven ‘World Marathon Majors’.