Starbucks Names Former Amazon Grocery Tech Leader Anand Varadarajan as CTO in Brian Niccol’s Turnaround Push
As of December 21, 2025, Starbucks’ latest leadership move is drawing attention across business and tech circles: the coffee giant has selected Anand Varadarajan, a nearly two-decade Amazon veteran, as its next Chief Technology Officer as CEO Brian Niccol accelerates a store-by-store push to improve speed, reliability, and labor efficiency. iTnews+2Reuters+2 Varadarajan will join Starbucks as Executive Vice President and CTO on January 19, 2026, stepping into a role that has been closely watched since the departure of the previous CTO earlier this fall. His mandate is clear: help modernize how Starbucks runs—behind the counter and behind the scenes—at a