Walmart CEO Doug McMillon announced that the retail giant is taking an aggressive stance on artificial intelligence—what he calls going “on offense”—to transform how its 2.1 million employees work, lead, and fulfill the company’s purpose.
Why it matters:McMillon emphasized that AI won’t just eliminate jobs—it will create new ones, provided workers are trained, trusted, and empowered to use these tools effectively.
“Every job we have will change in some way—whether it’s gathering shopping carts in the parking lot, how our technologists operate, or the evolution of leadership roles,” McMillon said during a Harvard Business Review event on Monday.
His comments follow Walmart’s recent partnership with OpenAI, which enables customers to plan meals, reorder household essentials, and complete purchases directly through ChatGPT—a model referred to as “agentic commerce.” This marks a strategic shift from traditional static search to conversational, AI-driven shopping experiences that anticipate customer needs before they even type a query.
The company has already rolled out access to ChatGPT and other generative AI tools to employees, encouraging them to experiment and adapt. To support this transition, Walmart is expanding its Walmart Academies with tailored programs that help workers build the skills needed in an AI-augmented workplace. These academies are also training certified technicians to maintain the retailer’s growing network of automated systems—a capability McMillon believes could eventually become a standalone business.
To lead this transformation, Walmart appointed Daniel Danker—formerly of Instacart and Uber—as its new AI executive.
**McMillon’s vision:** “We want to equip everyone to make the most of these new tools, learn, adapt, add value, and drive growth—so we can remain a major employer for years to come,” he said. “We’re not trying to invent the next frontier of AI infrastructure. Our goal is to be the best in the world at applying it.”