Starbucks names former Amazon exec. Anand Varadarajan chief technology officer

Group 1 - Starbucks has appointed Anand Varadarajan as the new executive vice president and chief technology officer, succeeding Deb Hall Lefevre who retired in September after three years with the company [1] - Varadarajan has nearly two decades of experience at Amazon, where he most recently served as vice president of worldwide grocery and supply chain [2] - CEO Brian Niccol emphasized Varadarajan's ability to create reliable and secure systems, drive operational excellence, and focus on customer-centric solutions [3] Group 2 - Varadarajan will report directly to CEO Brian Niccol and replaces Ningyu Chen, who served as interim CTO [3]