WarnerMedia announced that media, entertainment and technology executive Richard Tom has been appointed Chief Technology Officer of WarnerMedia, effective immediately. He will report to Jason Kilar, CEO, WarnerMedia.
Tom will lead WarnerMedia’s technology and operations organization including technology strategy, platform development and operations as well as shared services across WarnerMedia. This includes the company’s data strategy, content delivery systems, master control operations, broadcast engineering and the technology platform for its new streaming service, HBO Max, among other areas. In addition, the Xandr technology teams will also now report to Tom. The combination of Xandr and its advanced advertising solutions with WarnerMedia’s technological expertise will enable the company to create a better advertising value proposition for brands, publishers and consumers.
“Richard is a rare bird in that he brings deep technical chops, a dogged customer focus, clear and bold vision, and a magnetism that attracts other world class builders to him,” said Kilar. “WarnerMedia’s future will be as much about technology as it will be about storytelling and having Rich report to me as our technical leader strongly signals that.”
“Having been a part of the early innings of online video, it’s incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to redefine the future again with Jason and the WarnerMedia team,” said Tom. “It’s really fun to think about how technology will continue to help innovate the way WarnerMedia informs and inspires through amazing storytelling.”
Prior to joining WarnerMedia, Tom served as an advisor and consultant for technology focused consumer and B2B companies, as well as venture-backed startups. His previous experience also includes serving as CTO and SVP of Hulu, where he built and led the technical infrastructure that powered Hulu’s success with advertisers, content partners and customers. He also, alongside Kilar, co-founded Vessel – a global ad-supported, subscription-based, short-form video service that provided viewers early access to videos from top influencers, traditional television, major sports leagues and music publishers. Additionally, Tom served as CTO of Digital Entertainment at Verizon.
Former WarnerMedia CTO, Jeremy Legg, will join AT&T Communications to lead the Technology Services organization as Executive Vice President and CTO, reporting to Jeff McElfresh, CEO, AT&T Communications.
“Jeremy, through his leadership of the technology organization, has had such a positive and material impact on WarnerMedia, with last week’s launch of HBO Max being just the most recent example,” said Kilar. “I know I speak for all of us when I say how glad I am that Jeremy won’t be going far. I wish Jeremy the best of luck in what is sure to be a period of wonderfully positive impact at AT&T.”