The new Chief Product & Technology Officer for Disney Entertainment and ESPN has been selected, and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro all came together to share the news.
Earning the role is Adam Smith, and he’ll be based in Burbank, Calif., where he will oversee a global product and technology group spanning Disney’s entertainment and sports media businesses. Specifically, Smith will be responsible for “driving technology strategy, development, deployment and continued innovation across the company’s streaming platforms and networks, portfolio of consumer digital touchpoints, proprietary advertising technology, emerging technologies and more.”
Smith will lead a global team of technologists, including engineers, product managers and designers, data scientists and technical operations teams, Disney adds.
His first day is scheduled for September 3 and he will jointly report to Bergman, Walden and Pitaro.
Smith joins Disney from YouTube, where he most recently served as Vice President, Product Management, leading Music and Premium as well as Subscriptions and Commerce since 2016. During more than 20 years at Google and YouTube, Smith held executive roles across numerous divisions, throughout significant growth trajectories of both companies. He previously held roles at Random House/Bertelsmann.
— RBR+TVBR West Coast Bureau, in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
