Macmillan Publishers announced the creation of a new Chief Technology Officer role in March 2026, appointing the co-founder and co-CEO of CHAPTR — Holtzbrinck's AI company — to lead company-wide AI integration, data transformation, and process improvements.

Macmillan Publishers created the CTO role for the first time in its history in March 2026, appointing Darryll Colthrust effective April 7, 2026. Colthrust was previously co-founder and co-CEO of CHAPTR, the Holtzbrinck-backed AI company that built Reedy, Essence, and Amplify. At Macmillan, his mandate is described as advancing 'data and technology transformation, AI integration, and process improvements' across the company. Colthrust retains an advisory role at Holtzbrinck and a scaled-back capacity as co-CEO of CHAPTR. This appointment signals a structural commitment at the executive level to AI adoption, though specific AI deployments that result from this role are not yet confirmed by primary sources.