Google CEO Sundar Pichai has highlighted the transformative role of AI agents in the future of retail, stating that they “will be a big part of how we shop.” This vision comes as Alphabet’s drone delivery subsidiary Wing announced a major expansion of its partnership with Walmart, aiming to bring on-demand drone deliveries to an additional 150 stores across the US.
The announcements, shared during a keynote at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show in New York, highlight Google’s deepening integration of AI with e-commerce and logistics, in collaboration with Walmart and other major retailers.
AI agents to be the next era of seamless shopping, says Pichai
Pichai highlighted that AI will enable users to discover products, place orders, and complete purchases directly within AI-powered experiences like Google’s Gemini app, eliminating the need to switch between apps or websites.
“AI agents will be a big part of how we shop in the not-so-distant future,” Pichai wrote on X, pointing to deeper links between AI assistants and retail services. Google is developing this through the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard co-created with partners including Walmart, Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, and Target, to standardise agentic commerce.
This shift promises personalised, conversational shopping — from real-time inventory checks to instant checkouts — powered by Google’s Shopping Graph and Gemini’s capabilities.
Wing’s drone delivery expansion scaling fast and wide
In tandem with the AI push, Wing revealed plans to roll out drone deliveries from another 150 Walmart stores, building on existing services in Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta. The phased rollout begins in 2026 and continues through 2027, eventually operating from over 270 Walmart locations in cities including Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Miami, Houston (starting soon), Orlando, Tampa, and Charlotte.
Once complete, the service is expected to reach approximately 10% of the US population (around 40 million people). Wing’s drones, now capable of carrying packages up to 5 pounds, focus on everyday groceries like eggs, ground beef, avocados, and snacks. In Atlanta, half of the customers are repeat users, with many deliveries completed in under 20 minutes.
Pichai described this as a step toward solving costly last-mile delivery challenges while reimagining the end-to-end shopping journey.