Who Is Anand Varadarajan? Starbucks Appoints Ex-Amazon Executive As New Chief Technology Officer

Last Updated:December 22, 2025, 10:15 IST

Indian-origin Anand Varadarajan will take charge from January 19, replacing Deb Hall Lefevre, who stepped down from the role in September.

Starbucks Appoints Anand Varadarajan as Chief Technology Officer

Anand Varadarajan is the newly appointed chief technology officer of Starbucks. The global coffee chain announced on Friday that he will take charge from January 19, as chief executive Brian Niccol moves ahead with a major technology overhaul in stores to improve labour efficiency.

Varadarajan replaces Deb Hall Lefevre, who stepped down from the role in September. After her exit, Starbucks had named Ningyu Chen as interim CTO. Varadarajan now takes over at a time when the company is focusing on modernising store operations through technology.

He brings nearly two decades of experience from Amazon, where he worked for 19 years. At the e-commerce giant, he led technology and supply chain operations for its worldwide grocery business. Varadarajan has also previously worked at software firm Oracle, adding to his strong background in large-scale technology systems.

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