Walmart Unveils AI Super Agents to Revolutionize E-commerce and Operations

Walmart bets on AI super agents to boost e-commerce growth

NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab unveiled plans on Thursday to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" designed to improve the shopping experience for customers and streamline operations. The world's largest retailer said the four agents powered by agentic AI - designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers - would soon be the primary way people engage with Walmart. The super agents will be the entry point for every AI interaction these groups have with Walmart, replacing several existing agents and AI tools, along with new ones yet to be built, the company said. Walmart is betting on AI to drive its e-commerce growth, aiming for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years. The company reported annual sales of $648 billion last year. By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process - from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds - the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers. Walmart's push comes as the short-term financial payoff of AI remains uncertain and concerns over how it might affect jobs across the industry. One of the agents, Sparky, is already available for shoppers on Walmart's app as a Gen-AI powered tool. Currently it assists customers with getting product suggestions for an athletic activity, finding the right ink for their printer, or summarizing product reviews, among other options. In its "super agent" form it will be able to reorder items, plan an event such as a "unicorn-themed party" and through computer vision be able to offer product recipes by just looking at the contents of a shopper's fridge, Hari Vasudev, Walmart's U.S. chief technology officer, said at an event in New York. Agentic AI is the next iteration of generative AI, in that it needs minimal human intervention to make decisions and achieve specific tasks. Walmart is also developing an "Associate" super agent, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will allow workers and corporate staff to do things such as submit an application for parental leave or give store managers immediate information on sales data for a certain category or a product with minimal input. Employees now use separate AI tools to handle those queries, a company spokesperson said. For sellers, suppliers, and advertisers, Walmart is developing a super agent called "Marty" to streamline the onboarding process, manage orders and create ad campaigns. It is also working on a "Developer" super agent, which will be the platform on which all future AI tools will be tested, built, and launched, the company said. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology officer said. He added that the company chose to launch these super agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." The company declined to say whether the super agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said it would create new jobs without elaborating further. On Wednesday, Walmart had two AI-related announcements: it hired former Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president (EVP) for AI acceleration, product and design and created a new EVP, AI role that is yet to be filled. While retail has largely avoided AI-related layoffs, the tech industry has been hit hard, even in a historically strong market and resilient economy. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce over the next few years. Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab has emphasized that AI will boost productivity, but it has laid off thousands of employees, while Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab has laid off hundreds of employees. Walmart has not linked any job cuts directly to AI, but it has been downsizing its corporate staff and is modernizing e-commerce fulfillment centers with automation, resulting in some workforce reductions. Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Jacqueline Wong Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Walmart-yes, Walmart-says AI agents are its future

Could Walmart become a leader in the burgeoning agentic AI race? After watching the retail company's technology leaders discuss a host of new agents Wednesday at a New York City event, a Yes might not be as farfetched as it might sound to some. The retail giant unveiled its vision for how AI agents are going to overhaul how customers shop on its digital platforms, how corporate and store employees do their jobs, and how vendors and sellers track their merchandise performance. In some cases, this autonomous technology is doing so already. "Walmart is all in on agents," the company's chief technology officer Suresh Kumar told reporters at the event. "Agents can make life simpler for every aspect of what we do at Walmart," he added. Despite its roots as a brick and mortar retailer, Walmart has more recently been at the forefront of online commerce. In embracing AI agents however, the company is positioning itself ahead of even many digital companies. Agents, to many in the tech industry, are the next evolution in the current AI boom, where artificial intelligence not only acts as an assistant, but can autonomously complete complex multi-step actions with limited, or even no, human involvement. And for Walmart, the company's leaders say it's a natural next step in a technological transformation that has been underway inside the Arkansas-based retailer for the last few years. Kumar said he believes that Walmart holds a key advantage over many competitors in this space, considering the depth and breadth of data the company holds both because of its massive customer base, and when it comes to employee experiences as the world's largest non-government employer. He and other Walmart tech leaders showed off examples of four 'super agents,' which essentially act as managers that rout tasks to each more specialized agent. For consumers, there's Sparky, currently a gen AI digital assistant that can answer product questions and make suggestions, and which has been live in Walmart's app for some time. In the future, the assistant will start to take actions. Namely, create an order of weekly essential products based on a customer's shopping behavior, and place the order with essentially a thumbs up from the customer. The agent will also eventually possess the capability to curate a multi-item order geared to an upcoming party or event -- based on specifics such as theme, attendee size, and a shopper's budget. Other leaders showcased internal agent use cases that the company says will more efficiently accomplish mundane and repetitive tasks, for store workers, corporate staff, Walmart software engineers, and brands and other companies that sell through Walmart's physical and digital storefronts. While some of these agentic use cases are live today, others are coming soon, company execs said. But they were intent on making one point clear. "It's not vaporware," one executive said, accurately reading through the lines of one of this reporter's questions. Critically, many questions remain unanswered. What exact impact will this so-called agentic future -- if brought to full fruition -- have on employee headcount at the world's largest non-government employer? "We expect jobs to evolve and we don't know what that looks like yet," Walmart exec Dave Glick told Fortune. Will the revenue and employee productivity gains outweigh the intense costs of using AI at scale, especially for a company known on Wall Street for consistently generating profits? And at a broader industry level, is Walmart willing to participate in a possible future where consumers trust shopping agents from companies like OpenAI or Perplexity to autonomously make purchase decisions for them? Walmart US CTO Hari Vasudev told Fortune that the company is building the technological capabilities to do so, but that the ultimate decision will lie elsewhere in the company. "I don't want to mandate the business model; I want to be able to build it as open as I can," he said. "Whether the business decides to do it with a particular AI operator or not will depend on the economics and the business model and the relationships."

Walmart Just Announced a New AI Push That Could Help Supercharge Its Sales

The retailer is rolling out a new suite of AI-powered agents for its e-commerce experience and operations. Walmart unveiled plans on Thursday to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" designed to improve the shopping experience for customers and streamline operations. The world's largest retailer said the four agents powered by agentic AI -- designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers -- would soon be the primary way people engage with Walmart. The super agents will be the entry point for every AI interaction these groups have with Walmart, replacing several existing agents and AI tools, along with new ones yet to be built, the company said. Walmart is betting on AI to drive its e-commerce growth, aiming for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years. The company reported annual sales of $648 billion last year. By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process -- from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds -- the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers. Walmart's push comes as the short-term financial payoff of AI remains uncertain and concerns over how it might affect jobs across the industry. One of the agents, Sparky, is already available for shoppers on Walmart's app as a Gen-AI powered tool. Currently it assists customers with getting product suggestions for an athletic activity, finding the right ink for their printer, or summarizing product reviews, among other options. In its "super agent" form it will be able to reorder items, plan an event such as a "unicorn-themed party" and through computer vision be able to offer product recipes by just looking at the contents of a shopper's fridge, Hari Vasudev, Walmart's U.S. chief technology officer, said at an event in New York. Agentic AI is the next iteration of generative AI, in that it needs minimal human intervention to make decisions and achieve specific tasks. Walmart is also developing an "Associate" super agent, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will allow workers and corporate staff to do things such as submit an application for parental leave or give store managers immediate information on sales data for a certain category or a product with minimal input. Employees now use separate AI tools to handle those queries, a company spokesperson said. For sellers, suppliers, and advertisers, Walmart is developing a super agent called "Marty" to streamline the onboarding process, manage orders and create ad campaigns. It is also working on a "Developer" super agent, which will be the platform on which all future AI tools will be tested, built, and launched, the company said. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology officer said. He added that the company chose to launch these super agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." The company declined to say whether the super agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said it would create new jobs without elaborating further. On Wednesday, Walmart had two AI-related announcements: it hired former Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president (EVP) for AI acceleration, product and design and created a new EVP, AI role that is yet to be filled. While retail has largely avoided AI-related layoffs, the tech industry has been hit hard, even in a historically strong market and resilient economy. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce over the next few years. Microsoft has emphasized that AI will boost productivity, but it has laid off thousands of employees, while Google has laid off hundreds of employees. Walmart has not linked any job cuts directly to AI, but it has been downsizing its corporate staff and is modernizing e-commerce fulfillment centers with automation, resulting in some workforce reductions. ˆ The final deadline for the 2025 Inc. Power Partner Awards is this Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

Walmart bets on AI super agents to boost ecommerce growth - The Economic Times

By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process - from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds - the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers.Walmart unveiled plans on Thursday to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" designed to improve the shopping experience for customers and streamline operations. The world's largest retailer said the four agents powered by agentic AI - designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers - would soon be the primary way people engage with Walmart. The super agents will be the entry point for every AI interaction these groups have with Walmart, replacing several existing agents and AI tools, along with new ones yet to be built, the company said. Walmart is betting on AI to drive its ecommerce growth, aiming for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years. The company reported annual sales of $648 billion last year. By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process - from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds - the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers. Walmart's push comes as the short-term financial payoff of AI remains uncertain and concerns over how it might affect jobs across the industry. One of the agents, Sparky, is already available for shoppers on Walmart's app as a Gen-AI powered tool. Currently it assists customers with getting product suggestions for an athletic activity, finding the right ink for their printer, or summarizing product reviews, among other options. In its "super agent" form it will be able to reorder items, plan an event such as a "unicorn-themed party" and through computer vision be able to offer product recipes by just looking at the contents of a shopper's fridge, Hari Vasudev, Walmart's U.S. chief technology officer, said at an event in New York. Agentic AI is the next iteration of generative AI, in that it needs minimal human intervention to make decisions and achieve specific tasks. Walmart is also developing an "Associate" super agent, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will allow workers and corporate staff to do things such as submit an application for parental leave or give store managers immediate information on sales data for a certain category or a product with minimal input. Employees now use separate AI tools to handle those queries, a company spokesperson said. For sellers, suppliers, and advertisers, Walmart is developing a super agent called "Marty" to streamline the onboarding process, manage orders and create ad campaigns. It is also working on a "Developer" super agent, which will be the platform on which all future AI tools will be tested, built, and launched, the company said. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology officer said. He added that the company chose to launch these super agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." The company declined to say whether the super agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said it would create new jobs without elaborating further. On Wednesday, Walmart had two AI-related announcements: it hired former Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president (EVP) for AI acceleration, product and design and created a new EVP, AI role that is yet to be filled. While retail has largely avoided AI-related layoffs, the tech industry has been hit hard, even in a historically strong market and resilient economy. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce over the next few years. Microsoft has emphasized that AI will boost productivity, but it has laid off thousands of employees, while Google has laid off hundreds of employees. Walmart has not linked any job cuts directly to AI, but it has been downsizing its corporate staff and is modernizing e-commerce fulfillment centers with automation, resulting in some workforce reductions.

Walmart's Bold AI Overhaul Could Drive Efficiency, Margins And Market Edge - Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart WMT is revamping its artificial intelligence agent strategy to streamline the user experience. After building dozens of AI agents across various systems with separate interfaces, the company realized the fragmented setup was confusing for users. In response, Walmart is consolidating those tools into four unified "super agents," each designed for a specific group: customers, employees, engineers, and sellers or suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Each super agent will serve as a single access point, drawing from multiple backend AI tools to simplify interaction. Also Read: Walmart Leverages Automation And AI To Cut Costs And Grow, Paving The Way For Other Retailers: Report Chief Technology Officer Suresh Kumar explained that having separate agents for payroll and merchandising created unnecessary complexity. The new approach aims to eliminate that friction: Sparky, the customer-facing super agent, is live. The supplier-facing agent, Marty, is set to launch in the coming months. Employee and engineering agents are expected next year. These agents will be built using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard Anthropic developed. This standard allows super agents to communicate with other agents, apps, and internal data systems. Walmart is now updating older agents to meet this standard. Trending Investment OpportunitiesAdvertisementArrivedBuy shares of homes and vacation rentals for as little as $100. Get StartedWiserAdvisorGet matched with a trusted, local financial advisor for free.Get StartedPoint.comTap into your home's equity to consolidate debt or fund a renovation.Get StartedRobinhoodMove your 401k to Robinhood and get a 3% match on deposits.Get Started Walmart CEO Doug McMillon emphasized that AI is transforming the company's operations and said the leadership fully supports expanding its use. McMillon recently hired Daniel Danker from Instacart to lead global AI acceleration and is also seeking an AI platforms leader to support the strategy. Walmart's stock has gained 7% year-to-date, compared to Amazon.com's AMZN 6% returns. Despite earlier pledges to keep them stable amid tariff pressures, Amazon has quietly raised prices on everyday items. Since President Donald Trump's February tariff announcement, Amazon has increased prices on low-cost household products by an average of 5%, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of nearly 2,500 items. In contrast, Walmart responded to the same tariff climate by cutting prices on similar products by nearly 2%, signaling a competitive shift in pricing strategy. While Amazon cited rising shipping costs as a challenge to profitability on these items, Walmart benefited from in-store purchases of higher-margin goods that helped offset those losses. Amazon disputed the Journal's findings, stating the analyzed items don't accurately reflect overall pricing trends. WMT Price Action: Walmart stock was up 0.12% at $96.72 premarket at last check on Friday. Read Next Amazon's AI-Powered 4-Day Prime Day Will Drive Billions In Sales Image: Shutterstock WMTWalmart Inc$96.760.17%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum77.83Growth78.68Quality76.35Value46.09Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewAMZNAmazon.com Inc$231.62-0.26%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Walmart Turns to 'Super Agents' to Automate 'Pretty Much Everything' | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. The retail giant says these new tools, powered by agentic artificial intelligence (AI), will soon be the chief way people interact with Walmart, Reuters reported from an event Thursday (July 24) in New York. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Walmart Chief Technology Officer Suresh Kumar said in the report, adding the company decided to debut the agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." Walmart says the agents will serve as an entry point for every action customers, workers, sellers and suppliers have with the company, replacing a number of existing AI tools. The report notes Walmart is counting on AI to fuel its online growth as it aims for eCommerce to make up half of its sales within five years. In June, the company debuted "Sparky," an AI assistant designed to customers through their shopping trips with product recommendations and budget suggestions based on past behavior. According to Reuters, the "super agent" version of Sparky will be able to do things like reorder items, plan events and -- using computer vision -- offer recipe ideas by looking inside a customer's refrigerator. Also in the works is an "Associate" super-agent to let workers do things like submit applications for parental leave or let merchants access sales data. There's also "Marty," an agent designed for sellers, suppliers and advertisers, and one for developers to build future AI tools. The report adds that Walmart declined to say whether the new agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said the agents would create new jobs but did not provide further information. PYMNTS wrote recently about efforts by both Walmart and its competitor Amazon to protect their "retail soft spots" using AI. "The latest strategic maneuvers from both companies, over just the past week alone, reflect not just tactical business decisions but signal a structural transformation of what it means to be a modern retailer in the 21st century," that report said. The same week Walmart debuted Sparky, Amazon revealed it would spend $20 billion to construct two expansive AI and cloud data center campuses in Pennsylvania -- the biggest private‑sector investment in that state's history. "The move aligns with Amazon's broader commitment to AI innovation across its operational value chain," the report said. Amazon's delivery forecasting systems, for example, are being reengineered using machine learning models that analyze real-time logistics data, customer behavior, and weather patterns."

Walmart bets on AI super agents to boost e-commerce growth

NEW YORK - Walmart unveiled plans on Thursday to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" designed to improve the shopping experience for customers and streamline operations. The world's largest retailer said the four agents powered by agentic AI - designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers - would soon be the primary way people engage with Walmart. The super agents will be the entry point for every AI interaction these groups have with Walmart, replacing several existing agents and AI tools, along with new ones yet to be built, the company said. Walmart is betting on AI to drive its e-commerce growth, aiming for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years. The company reported annual sales of US$648 billion last year. By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process - from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds - the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers. Walmart's push comes as the short-term financial payoff of AI remains uncertain and concerns over how it might affect jobs across the industry. One of the agents, Sparky, is already available for shoppers on Walmart's app as a Gen-AI powered tool. Currently it assists customers with getting product suggestions for an athletic activity, finding the right ink for their printer, or summarizing product reviews, among other options. In its "super agent" form it will be able to reorder items, plan an event such as a "unicorn-themed party" and through computer vision be able to offer product recipes by just looking at the contents of a shopper's fridge, Hari Vasudev, Walmart's U.S. chief technology officer, said at an event in New York. Agentic AI is the next iteration of generative AI, in that it needs minimal human intervention to make decisions and achieve specific tasks. Walmart is also developing an "Associate" super agent, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will allow workers and corporate staff to do things such as submit an application for parental leave or give store managers immediate information on sales data for a certain category or a product with minimal input. Employees now use separate AI tools to handle those queries, a company spokesperson said. For sellers, suppliers, and advertisers, Walmart is developing a super agent called "Marty" to streamline the onboarding process, manage orders and create ad campaigns. It is also working on a "Developer" super agent, which will be the platform on which all future AI tools will be tested, built, and launched, the company said. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology officer said. He added that the company chose to launch these super agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." The company declined to say whether the super agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said it would create new jobs without elaborating further. On Wednesday, Walmart had two AI-related announcements: it hired former Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president (EVP) for AI acceleration, product and design and created a new EVP, AI role that is yet to be filled. While retail has largely avoided AI-related layoffs, the tech industry has been hit hard, even in a historically strong market and resilient economy. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce over the next few years. Microsoft has emphasized that AI will boost productivity, but it has laid off thousands of employees, while Google has laid off hundreds of employees. Walmart has not linked any job cuts directly to AI, but it has been downsizing its corporate staff and is modernizing e-commerce fulfillment centers with automation, resulting in some workforce reductions.