Walmart tells workers that AI will improve their jobs, not steal them

{"text":[[{"start":8.05,"text":"Walmart has a message for its 2.1mn workers: AI is going to improve your job, not take it. "}],[{"start":14.75,"text":"The largest private sector US employer and global retail behemoth is plunging headlong into AI to assist with a range of tasks, from designing clothes to marshalling trucks, in a push that executives drummed into thousands of employees who flew to its Arkansas headquarters campus earlier this week. Any US staff member can now get certified in the use of OpenAI, Walmart announced. "}],[{"start":37.45,"text":"The company’s embrace of AI comes amid anxiety over the technology’s potential to make certain workers redundant. AI has been the leading reason US companies gave for cutting jobs in each of the past three months, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a job placement firm. "}],[{"start":54.7,"text":"Shareholders unsuccessfully petitioned Walmart for a report on how AI will affect workers at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday. The company’s tech and product design teams last month announced hundreds of lay-offs, without linking them to AI. "}],[{"start":69.10000000000001,"text":"But executives at Walmart’s Associates Week gathering, a tradition dating back to employee picnics at the home of founder Sam Walton, outlined a future where AI will change how people work, not necessarily how many work. "}],[{"start":82.50000000000001,"text":"“Technology will power our future. But our associates will lead it.” Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, told a thunderous rally inside a basketball arena on Friday. "}],[{"start":94.85000000000001,"text":"Walmart accelerated its adoption of AI last year with the hiring in August of Daniel Danker from the grocery tech company Instacart as executive vice-president for AI acceleration, product and design. He was paid $44mn last year, including restricted stock, which was more than outgoing chief executive Doug McMillon. "}],[{"start":114.95000000000002,"text":"McMillon handed over the reins to new chief John Furner, noting that his successor was “uniquely capable” of leading the company through an AI transformation. Furner on Friday granted an award to two Walmart engineers who had programmed a “vibe coding” platform now in use across the company, which enables hourly-wage employees to create code to solve business problems."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":136.20000000000002,"text":"“The chorus, the part we come back to time and time again, is that our people make a difference that matters,” Furner told the arena before strumming a guitar he had mock-ordered via Sparky, Walmart’s AI shopping chatbot.  "}],[{"start":149.50000000000003,"text":"Walmart’s global headcount has declined slightly over the past five years, even as its revenue surged by $151bn to $713bn in 2025. “We don’t know what the future holds, but we’ve been a large employer and will continue to be one,” a spokesperson said."}],[{"start":168.15000000000003,"text":"Walmart had been deploying AI in various ways, managers and executives said. "}],[{"start":173.15000000000003,"text":"Lo Stomski, Walmart’s chief talent officer, praised a freight transport manager who had coded a way to find drivers the best loads to haul near the end of their workweek. "}],[{"start":182.50000000000003,"text":"“It reduces empty miles. It saves the company money, and it helps keep Walmart’s commitment to getting drivers home,” Stomski said. "}],[{"start":190.70000000000002,"text":"Danker, in an interview, said that AI could shift the process of stocking, bundling and shipping merchandise from being “deterministic” to “predictive” and able to anticipate surges in demand. "}],[{"start":203.20000000000002,"text":"“What I hope for, the kind of north star that I imagine, is if there’s a sudden heatwave, all of a sudden all the items you would need in a heatwave are right there, available for delivery in 30 minutes or less,” Danker said. "}],[{"start":215.65,"text":"Managers also spoke of using AI to boil down consumer opinions in order to design new products and support self-checkout scanners that could identify produce without bar codes. "}],[{"start":226.1,"text":"Walmart’s stock has been swept up in investor excitement over AI, helping to propel its market capitalisation above $1tn in a first for a brick-and-mortar retailer. Bullish analysts argue that Walmart’s tech advantage will widen its lead against many smaller retailers. "}],[{"start":243.65,"text":"But the stock has recently fallen back after an earnings report in which expenses rose for fuel and employee healthcare. "}],[{"start":251.1,"text":"The shareholder proposal seeking an AI report was sponsored by United for Respect, a labour group that has long been critical of Walmart’s workplace practices. Ava Williams, who spoke on behalf of the group and said she worked at a Walmart store in Washington state, charged that a “rushed rollout” of AI tools was creating impossible timelines that led to cut corners, injuries and burnout. "}],[{"start":275,"text":"“We are not asking Walmart to stop using technology. We’re asking for technology that works for us, not against us,” Williams said. "}],[{"start":283.7,"text":"Employees put forward by Walmart had a different view. Darlene Lane, a 43-year veteran who said she once met Sam Walton, said: “I think anybody that has read anything about Mr Sam knows that he was an innovator, and he was a maverick, and I think he would embrace this 110 per cent.” "}],[{"start":310.65,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780890084_8702.mp3"}