Netflix has hired Instacart executive Dani Dudeck as its next chief communications officer, tapping a longtime Silicon Valley and consumer-tech strategist at a moment when the streamer is juggling high-profile corporate messaging and heightened regulatory attention. Dudeck will start Jan. 12 and report to co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Netflix said.
Dudeck comes from Instacart, where she served as chief corporate affairs officer and led communications alongside policy and government affairs work. Before Instacart, she held senior communications roles at Zynga and MySpace, building a résumé that spans entertainment-adjacent tech companies, brand crises, and rapid growth cycles. In Netflix’s announcement, Sarandos said Dudeck is “known for building high-performing global teams” and for shaping company narratives with business impact. Dudeck said she was drawn to Netflix’s scale and cultural reach, calling the role her “next adventure” in a message posted to LinkedIn.
The hire fills a top communications seat that has been in flux since Netflix reorganized its public policy and communications functions and saw senior leadership departures during that transition. In late 2024, Netflix’s then-communications chief Rachel Whetstone and policy executive Dean Garfield left amid a restructuring tied to a new global affairs mandate, according to Reuters.
Dudeck arrives with a reputation inside the communications world for treating internal messaging as a strategic priority, arguing in a prior interview that employees expect clear alignment between what companies say publicly and what they communicate inside. That approach may get tested quickly. Netflix is asking regulators to sign off on its proposed $82.7 billion Warner Bros. Discovery deal while Paramount presses a competing bid, forcing Netflix to sell its case to investors, employees, partners and politicians at the same time. Dudeck said she will step away from Instacart at year’s end and join Netflix in mid-January.
