UTA announced Eric Iverson as chief technology officer, where he will lead information-technology strategy — joining the company as artificial intelligence and other tech developments are threatening to disrupt the industry.
Most recently, Iverson served as director of product strategy Amazon MGM Studios, where he led product, user experience and AI efforts, and before that was chief technologist for media and entertainment in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division. While at Amazon, he helped oversee an ambitious effort to build Amazon’s next-generation studio, which leverages leverages a fully cloud-based infrastructure.
Prior to joining Amazon, Iverson from 2016 to 2020 served as CTO and CIO of CAA. Before that, he spent more than 17 years at Sony Pictures Entertainment, working in multiple tech leadership roles before rising to CTO of Sony Pictures Television, where he oversaw technology for four global television business units and the corporate intellectual property program.
Iverson will be based at UTA’s Beverly Hills headquarters, reporting to CEO Jeremy Zimmer. Iverson is tasked with managing the IT organizations supporting the company’s talent representation, content production, and strategic advisory and marketing consulting businesses.
“I have long admired UTA’s track record in being first to market in unlocking technology-driven opportunities across the cultural landscape,” Iverson said in a statement. “UTA was the first major agency to establish digital, podcasting and other future-facing practices, and they have consistently shown a commitment to lean into what innovation has to offer their clients and their business. Joining this team in these dawning days for artificial intelligence is the role of a lifetime.”
Zimmer said in announcing Iverson’s hire, “Eric is highly respected for his vision and leadership at the intersection of entertainment and technology, and we are thrilled to have him join the team at such a transformative moment for both. One of our priorities at UTA is understanding how artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies can benefit our business — from protecting creators to expanding their opportunities. Eric and his team will be thinking about this as well as designing the systems, products and tools that will fuel innovation and improve the ways we collaborate as a diverse, global company.”
