Candy Crush Saga maker King has appointed former TomTom and Zalando exec Eric Bowman as its new chief technology officer.

As part of senior leadership, Bowman will lead a multi-disciplinary tech team which includes King’s AI group. Reporting directly to King president Tjodolf Sommestad, he will play a key role in roadmapping technology plans and tech strategy at the company.

Bowman’s appointment comes as Steve Colins stepped down from the CTO role after four years, departing to explore AI and "return to his roots" in investment and advising early-stage companies.

A wealth of knowledge

Bowman has 30 years of experience across leadership, management, engineering and other roles. He has previously held senior roles at EA, Glint Groupe, Zalando, and more recently TomTom. As CTO at the latter, he was responsible for running product engineering teams working on location-based products.

He also helped bring Three’s 3G to the global market and was a part of the core EA team that developed The Sims 1.0, working as technical programming lead at the time.

"King is leading the way in driving the dynamism of the mobile games sector, and I’m honoured to be joining the business at such an exciting time," said Bowman.

"There is a technology revolution upon us, and the opportunity that creates in pushing the boundaries of innovation is endless."

Sommestad added: "I’m pleased to welcome Eric to the Kingdom to lead our technology strategy and take our innovation to new heights.

"Our strategic focus has never been more fundamental to the success of our business in servicing our mission of Making the World Playful. Eric brings strategic thinking, technological expertise and a lot of passion for delivering great user experiences."