Walmart CEO Doug McMillon has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) will profoundly reshape the company’s workforce, potentially impacting millions of jobs across all levels, from leadership positions to checkout roles. Speaking at a recent Harvard Business Review event, McMillon emphasized the retailer’s intention to proactively embrace AI as part of its strategy to navigate the fast-evolving technological landscape.
With approximately 2.1 million employees worldwide, Walmart is bracing for significant transformation. McMillon pointed out that every role within the company will undergo some form of change, whether it’s a shift in responsibilities like retrieving shopping carts or more fundamental adjustments in the way management and technical teams function. “Every job we’ve got is going to change in some way whether it’s getting the shopping carts off the parking lot, or the way our technologists work, or certainly the way leadership roles change,” McMillon remarked.
The CEO also reassured employees that, while significant changes were on the horizon, Walmart was not planning immediate layoffs. Instead, the company is committed to evolving roles and empowering its workforce by providing access to AI tools, such as ChatGPT, alongside offering training to help employees adapt to the technological shift. McMillon emphasized the goal of equipping everyone to leverage these new tools, learn, and add value in the process. “What we want to do is equip everybody to be able to make the most of the new tools that are available, learn, adapt, add value, drive growth and still be a really large employer years from now,” he said.
As part of this strategy, Walmart has already started creating new AI-driven roles, like “agent builders,” whose job is to develop AI tools to assist merchants. Additionally, the company is integrating AI into customer service, with new applications such as chatbots and enhanced online support to streamline operations. While McMillon acknowledged that AI would have a profound impact on the retail sector, he reassured that human interaction would still be a key component for the foreseeable future. “We are going to put people in front of people,” he said.
Despite the reassurances, the move toward AI has created some uncertainty. Although Walmart’s overall workforce is expected to remain steady in the coming years, as noted by company executives, the roles within that workforce will undergo significant changes. Donna Morris, Walmart’s Chief People Officer, acknowledged that these changes are unavoidable, but emphasized the company’s commitment to supporting its employees with retraining and pathways to adapt to AI-driven shifts.
This AI transition at Walmart is also aligned with the company’s collaboration with OpenAI, which aims to bring “agentic commerce” to life via ChatGPT. This will enable a conversational shopping experience, enhancing customer engagement and streamlining the shopping process. The integration of AI reflects Walmart’s strategic focus on leading the charge in retail innovation, while managing the complexities of automation’s impact on its operations.
