Disney hires Netflix’s former production innovation exec for pan-streaming role

Ajay Arora

Disney has hired Netflix’s former director of product innovation for growth as its SVP of product, commerce and experimentation.

Ajay Arora, who pioneered Netflix’s low-priced subscription offering for developing markets, will have responsibilities across Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+.

In addition to four years at Netflix, Arora worked at Amazon’s audiobook business Audible for six years, most notably as its VP of global product management.

In his new role, the exec will be based in San Francisco and report to EVP of product & design for Disney streaming, Jerrel Jimerson.

Of the new hire, Jimerson said: “Ajay brings a wealth of experience to Disney Streaming and will be intimately involved in every aspect of building out an innovative payments platform to drive global monetisation across all our streaming services. He will work in close collaboration with the existing team to continue the great work that’s been done to expand upon our world-class commerce and experimentation capabilities.”