Karandeep Anand, co-founder and CEO of Character.AI, will be joining us for a fireside chat at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. This amazing experience is planned for October 27-29 in San Francisco. The five-day event, taking place at Moscone West, is expected to bring together more than 10,000 innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs. Anand’s discussion will focus on the rise of human-like AI companions, Character.AI’s innovative strategies amid regulatory pressures, and the ongoing legal challenges facing the company.
Under Anand’s leadership, Character.AI has seen meteoric growth, amassing over 20 million monthly active users globally. Expansion into new modalities, video generation and monetization initiatives are all part of his long-term strategy. Anand’s vision not only encompasses technological advancements but emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships that enhance the company’s offerings.
Background of Karandeep Anand
Having spent 15 years at Microsoft, Karandeep Anand comes to Character.AI with decades of experience steeped in AI technology as the company’s CEO. During his tenure, he led product management for Azure Cloud and developer platforms. This experience honed his capacity to lead multi-disciplinary teams through complex projects and position them to lead the future of innovation. His accomplishments in cloud technology provided a firm foundation for his later appointments in the administration.
Immediately after his time at Microsoft, Anand was the president and chief product officer at Brex. At Brex, he was a key leader in launching Brex Assistant and the next generation spend management platform, Empower. His experiences provided him with a unique perspective on the connection between product development and market needs. This unique perspective amplified his impact at Character.AI even more.
Character.AI’s Growth and Innovations
Since becoming CEO of Character.AI, Anand has led the fledgling company through rapid evolution and breakout success. The platform has since matured to provide interactive AI companions that have charmed millions worldwide. Anand’s projects have pushed the new video generation capabilities to new extremes and deepened user engagement by building more visually impactful interactions.
Second, the company has sought monetization strategies that focus on profiting from its growing user base. Under Anand’s guidance, Character.AI is continuing down these commercial paths while staying true to the goal of overcoming those pitfalls and actually creating meaningful experiences for users.
Challenges Ahead
Anand will break down how Character.AI was able to find such success at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. He’ll need to figure out how the company can address its biggest challenges — an increasingly difficult regulatory environment. The rise of AI technologies has prompted increased scrutiny and legal scrutiny, compelling companies like Character.AI to adapt swiftly to maintain compliance while continuing to innovate.
The fireside chat promises to offer insights into how Character.AI is tackling these legal challenges head-on while preserving its mission of creating human-like AI companions. Anand’s perspective will be invaluable as attendees seek to understand the future of AI within a framework of responsible innovation.