The move is driven by the company’s effort to bring together its global technology and product teams, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday (May 12), citing sources familiar with the situation.
The report notes Walmart’s hiring last year of Instacart vet Daniel Danker as its new head of global AI acceleration. Since then Danker and Walmart’s head of global technology, Suresh Kumar, have looked at the company’s internal structures and decided to streamline some teams to improve efficiency, the executives said in a memo to staff Tuesday that was seen by the WSJ.
“In some cases, we’ve had different teams working on similar problems,” read the memo, which added that affected workers can apply for open roles at Walmart.
This is part of Walmart’s ongoing corporate staff reductions as the company consolidates divisions and asks employees to move to hubs like its Bentonville, AR headquarters.
In this case, the report added, many of the workers in question have been asked to move to Bentonville or offices in Northern California, the WSJ added.
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The report also points out that many major companies, Meta and Amazon among them, have made large staffing reductions in recent months, often tied to the need for greater AI investments, or preparing for a time when AI handles more duties.
However, a Walmart spokesperson told the WSJ that these changes are about organizational structure and alignment, not shifting more work to AI.
Walmart President and CEO John Furner stressed the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the company’s recent annual report.
“We are at a pivotal moment, not just for our company, but for the industry, as artificial intelligence fundamentally reshapes how customers shop and how associates work,” he wrote.
The company said it is using the technology to improve areas like the customer experience, as well as productivity, supply chain efficiency, and talent recruitment and development.
As PYMNTS wrote last month, Walmart’s advantage when it comes to AI comes from its “hybrid model.” With its brick-and-mortar stores serving as fulfillment hubs, the company can embed real-time inventory data into its AI systems, allowing for more accurate recommendations and speedier delivery.
“This tight coupling of digital intelligence and physical infrastructure may allow Walmart to compete not just on price, but on certainty, knowing that what is recommended is available and can be delivered quickly,” the report said.
