Starbucks Appoints Anand Varadarajan as EVP & Chief Technology Officer

Following the retirement of Deb Hall Lefevre in September, Starbucks has appointed Anand Varadarajan as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Varadarajan will assume the role on January 19 and join the company’s Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to CEO Brian Niccol, while leading Starbucks’ global technology function.

Varadarajan joins Starbucks after nearly two decades at Amazon, where he played a key role in building large-scale technology platforms focused on customer experience, speed, and operational efficiency. Most recently, he led technology and supply chain systems for Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores business, contributing to the digital backbone of one of the world’s most complex retail ecosystems.

In his new role, Varadarajan will be responsible for strengthening Starbucks’ secure and reliable technology infrastructure, enhancing operational performance, and scaling customer-centric digital solutions across markets. A significant part of his mandate will also include building and empowering the teams that support Starbucks’ technology platforms globally.Earlier in his career, Varadarajan held engineering and leadership roles at Oracle, Motorola Inc., Openwave Inc., Viquity Inc., and several startups, bringing deep expertise across enterprise software, retail technology, and large-scale systems.