Josh D’Amaro On Balancing Legacy And Innovation As Disney CEO Spotlight Lands On Parks Chief – “I’m Ready For The Challenge”

Josh D’Amaro, who was anointed the next CEO of Disney Tuesday morning, stayed mostly out of the spotlight today but sat down with David Muir on ABC’s World News Tonight alongside outgoing chief Bob Iger to talk about his new gig, AI, working with Dana Walden and more.

Asked about balancing legacy and innovation at such an historic company, D’Amaro said on the broadcast that “I’ve had the great benefit and the great honor of working with Bob [Iger] for all of those years, first from a distance and now much more up close and personal, and I’ve watched probably the best of the best balance those two things. As Bob talks about being close to the fans and the guests, this is something that’s important to me. I spend a lot of time in our beloved parks that hundreds of millions of people enjoy every year and I see firsthand the importance of the brand, what Disney means to them, what it means to these families. And when you feel that and you understand the legacy of this place and the fact that you need to keep pushing forward and being innovative.”

The duo looked like twins with salt and pepper hair, dark jackets and white shirts. The two men share a birthday — Feb. 10.

“I think I’m ready for that challenge,” he told Muir.

Risk taking is part of Disney cutlure, he noted, highlighting the company’s first theme park in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi.

And he said he sees AI as a key tool but always second to human creativity. Disney “is so special is because of how creative we are and human beings that are generating that creativity. In my mind, that never gets replaced. And in fact, this isn’t even theory anymore. This is real, it’s something that we’re embracing. If you ever walk over to studios today and see [artists] using AI, harnessing 70 years of history, this is when the Walt Disney Company thrives, when technology intersects with brilliant people and creativity, and we’re in that moment right now.”

D’Amaro called Walden, who will be his no. 2 as president and chief creative officer, “an incredibly powerful executive. She’s got years and years of experience in this in this space. She’s exceptionally creative, and she’s a great human being, and I think it’s absolutely the right step to continue to push us into this next frontier.”

More to come