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Walt Disney<\/a> Co. should appoint a corporate chief technology officer and focus on technology \u201ctransformation,\u201d according to one of the activist investors pressing the company for change.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blackwells Capital contends the entertainment and media giant should have an overarching CTO who oversees innovation. The Burbank, California-based company would also benefit from organizing its venture investments into a single vehicle, Blackwells said in a presentation reviewed by Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n Disney\u2019s CTO duties are currently split between two people \u2014 one is in charge of entertainment and ESPN, while the other looks after parks and experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDisney will never be valued as a technology firm, until it begins to think like a technology firm,\u201d Blackwells said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The investor criticized Disney for underspending on research and development and said it should be investing in innovation around artificial intelligence and spatial computing.<\/p>\n Blackwells said the Disney board\u00a0lacks directors<\/a>\u00a0with experience in technology and entrepreneurship. Only one board member \u2014 Amy Chang, former executive at Cisco Systems<\/a> Inc. and eBay<\/a> Inc. \u2014 is experienced in technology, the investor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The activist investor\u00a0has nominated<\/a>\u00a0three directors including the managing director at venture capital firm Fuel Capital, Leah Solivan, who Blackwells said can support and identify technology initiatives for companies.<\/p>\n Disney has a business incubator program that it\u2019s used to mentor and invest in young technology companies for the past 10 years.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0Disney Leans on AI in Latest Class of Startup Investments<\/a><\/p>\n Another, larger, activist investment fund, Trian Fund Management, has criticized Disney\u2019s sports strategy as well as its recent investment in Epic Games Inc. Trian has nominated two directors to be voted on at the company\u2019s\u00a0annual general meeting<\/a>\u00a0on April 3.<\/p>\n Disney reiterated to its shareholders on Monday that they should reject the slates put forward by Blackwells and Trian.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe dissident nominees are unqualified and have no meaningful plan to deliver superior shareholder value,\u201d the company said in a letter to investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n