Disney Appoints Adam Smith as Chief Product & Technology Officer, Disney Entertainment & ESPN

Adam Smith (Photo credit Kim Reierson)

In this role, Smith will oversee a global Product and Technology group that includes Disney’s entertainment and sports media businesses. He will be responsible for driving technology strategy, development, implementation and continued innovation across the company’s streaming platforms and networks, portfolio of digital consumer 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. Smith will join Disney effective September 3, reporting jointly to Bergman, Walden and Pitaro.

The three chairmen shared in a joint statement: “We couldn’t be more excited to have Adam join the Disney team in this critical role. We’ve been aggressive in advancing our technology capabilities to better support our world-class media, streaming and advertising businesses, and Adam brings a bold, consumer-focused vision for the future and a proven ability to effectively lead global teams in implementing ambitious, scalable and flexible products and technology that will continue to elevate storytelling to the center of the Disney experience.”

“Disney has built and nurtured an unmatched portfolio of brands that bring joy and delight to fans of all ages through a culture of creativity that embraces innovation,” said Smith. “I believe Disney is uniquely positioned to thrive in the next evolution of media and has made significant progress in a very short time, all while putting storytelling at its core. I look forward to working closely with Alan, Dana and Jimmy and their world-class teams, and am excited to apply my expertise in using technology to create compelling consumer experiences that will drive engagement and discovery among fans, families and friends.”

Smith joins Disney from YouTube, where he most recently was 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 leadership roles across several divisions during key growth trajectories for both companies. At YouTube, he played an integral role in building out the largest consumer-facing products, growing the Music and Premium offering to more than 100 million subscribers, including periods leading Global Content and Product across Kids, Sports, News and Education (2013-14) and serving as regional head of Asia Pacific (2011-13). At Google, he led development and strategy for a range of key products and groups, including Google Fiber (2014-16), Google APAC (2009-11) and a portfolio including Google Books, Google News, Google Finance and Google Scholar (2003-09). He previously held roles at Random House/Bertelsmann. Smith has served on REDF’s board of directors since 2009. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford University.