Starbucks raids Amazon to bring in Anand Varadarajan as coffee giant's new CTO
Starbucks has announced the appointment of Anand Varadarajan as Chief Technology Officer.
He takes the helm after Deb Hall Lefevre stepped down in September, following which the coffee chain named Ningyu Chen as interim CTO.
Varadarajan joins from Amazon where he spent almost 19 years, serving as Vice President, Worldwide Grocery Technology and Supply Chain.
CEO Brian Niccol, who is pushing a tech revamp across stores to boost efficiency, says: "Following Deb Hall Lefevre’s retirement in September, we began the search for our next Chief Technology Officer.”
“I’m proud to share that Anand Varadarajan will join us as Executive Vice President and CTO, starting 19th January. He’ll be part of the executive leadership team, lead the Starbucks Technology organisation, and will report directly to me."
He adds: "Anand comes to us from Amazon, where he spent nearly 19 years building technology that puts customers first and helps teams move with speed and agility. Most recently, he led technology and supply chain for their Worldwide Grocery Stores business."
"He’s also held software engineering roles at Oracle and worked for several startups. He knows how to create systems that are reliable and secure, drive operational excellence and scale solutions that keep customers at the centre. Just as important, he cares deeply about supporting and developing the people behind the scenes that build and enable the technology we use."
He concludes: "I want to thank Ningyu Chen for stepping in as interim CTO. His leadership kept our priorities on track and our technology work moving forward. I’m confident Anand will help the team build on work underway and accelerate our efforts to deliver the very best of Starbucks for partners and customers."
William Connors
William Connors is starting a new position as International Retail Systems Manager at Starbucks.
He left Wingstop UK earlier this year, where he served as Head of Information Technology, and for the past few months has been working as an IT consultant.
Connors' CV also includes stints at Noble Restaurant Group (as Director of IT) and Ring International Holdings (Head of IT Operations).
2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS
Physical stores were a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
We received a record number of entries and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
For a full rundown of all of the shortlisted entries, click here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
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