Shares in retail giant Walmart (WMT) were lower today after its chief executive warned that AI would “change every single job” in the U.S.
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Out With the Old
Walmart, which has repeatedly introduced AI tools into its own business over the last few months, said that the innovative new tech would scrap some jobs and tasks in the group, but also introduce new ones. Overall, it means that the group’s headcount of around 2.1 million worldwide will remain stable over the next three years, despite expectations of higher sales and revenue growth.
“Maybe there’s a job in the world that AI won’t change, but I haven’t thought of it,” said chief executive Doug McMillon during a conference with other executives at WMT’s headquarters in Bentonville.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the company has been tracking which job types decrease, increase and stay steady in order to gauge where additional training can help prepare workers for AI’s onslaught.
“Our goal is to create the opportunity for everybody to make it to the other side,” McMillon said.
That will mean that the types of jobs on offer at Walmart will change significantly. Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, however, told the WSJ that she was unsure what that new mix might be.
“We’ve got to do our homework, and so we don’t have those answers,” she said.
AI Offerings
What it is doing is getting staff ready. Beginning next year, U.S. store and office-based Walmart staff will have access to “cutting-edge AI training” through a new collaboration with tech group OpenAI. That means getting hands-on experience with AI tools.
Its other AI developments include the launch earlier this year of a new GenAI-powered shopping assistant called Sparky. It helps answer product questions from customers and compares options.
It also has internal AI tools such as Wally, which analyzes performance across products, channels and markets for buying merchants to more effectively diagnose stock performance.
Indeed, technology is seen by Walmart as key in challenging rivals such as Target (TGT) and especially e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN).
It is why technology and innovation are seen as a key, above sector average, risk for the business – see below:
In a blow to the likes of Tesla (TSLA), however, the group seems less keen on the idea of humanoid robots.
Several firms have pitched robot workers to Walmart, McMillon said, but he instead values the human touch. “Until we’re serving humanoid robots and they have the ability to spend money, we’re serving people,” he said. “We are going to put people in front of people.”
Is WMT a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, WMT has a Strong Buy consensus based on 29 Buy ratings. Its highest price target is $129. WMT stock’s consensus price target is $114.89, implying a 12.46% upside.
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