World’s largest retailer Walmart’s global workforce accounted for approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide, with about 1.6 million of those in the US, as per its official website. However, CEO Doug McMillon has repeatedly pitched an unfamiliar vision for the company’s future as they go “on offence” with artificial intelligence.
Amid the already heavily charged AI disruption usurping jobs and the human touch, the US businessman again insisted that all existing jobs will ultimately undergo changes one way or another, as per Axios. McMillion particularly mapped out that the AI revamp would impact jobs on all levels, ranging from leadership posts to checkout roles.
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“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,” the Walmart CEO at a Harvard Business Review event on Monday (US time).
McMillon also disclosed that the company had already provided its employees with access to ChatGPT and other generative tools so that they can adapt according to the ever-changing scenario. Offering a sense of relief, he didn’t outrightly announce layoffs as such in his latest admission.
The Walmart CEO maintained that artificial intelligence would help them create as many new work opportunities as it is replacing. However, the same was only possible if workers are well-equipped to use AI and trained as per the changing needs. “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 added.
During a previous workforce conference with executives from other companies at Walmart’s Bentonville headquarters, McMillon issued a similar warning without sugarcoating the implications of AI on the job market. “Maybe there’s a job in the world that AI won’t change, but I haven’t thought of it,” he admitted, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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At the time, the company insisted that Walmart’s global workforce of approximately 2.1 million workers would roughly maintain the attendance over the next three years. And yet, staying on the same page as McMillion, Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, foregrounded that significant changes in the pre-existing jobs structure were inevitable.
Similarly, company spokesperson Jimmy Carter said that workforce was expected to stay steady over the next few years, as per WSJ. The prime focus was on evolving roles through AI. “Over the next three years we expect headcount to remain flat as roles evolve. That’s why we’re providing associates with AI training and pathways to careers that are in high demand, both today and in the future,” he added.
Walmart’s AI revamp explained
As America’s largest private employer, Walmart has taken on the challenge to confront the changing reality. In its efforts to “make it to the other side,” the company has already established chat bots, now named as “agents.” According to the WSJ, Walmart even introduced Daniel Danker, an Instacart executive, to its team in July so that supply chain and product trends with AI could be overseen.
In the recent past, the retailer has also created the “agent builder” position, which refers to an employee building AI tools for merchants’ assistance.
The Walmart CEO’s new AI vision for the company has already envisioned that customer service operations involving call centres and online chat will rely more on artificial intelligence in the future. For the time being, McMillion at least assuaged fears of replacing people with humanoid robot workers. “Until we’re serving humanoid robots and they have the ability to spend money, we’re serving people,” he said at the Bentonville conference. “We are going to put people in front of people.”
On top of that, the Walmart boss’ Monday comments come weeks after the retailer partnered up with Sam Altman’s OpenAI, beckoning the arrival of “agentic commerce.” The “AI-first” shopping experience will be directly facilitated through ChatGPT, making way for conversational shopping.