Shownotes
This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment explores Walmart’s ambitious plan to train all 2.1 million employees on AI tools and workflows.
Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss the challenges of teaching AI at scale, why leadership buy-in matters, and how quickly AI tools are changing across retail organizations. They also debate whether companies should move fast with AI adoption or take a slower, more deliberate approach.
⏩ Tune in for the full episode here.
#Walmart #AI #FutureOfWork #RetailLeadership
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Transcripts
Walmart has announced an ambitious plan to train all 2.1 million of its employees, from its tech team down to its in store greeters on artificial intelligence tools over the next few years, positioning Agentic AI as the backbone of its future retail operations strategy.
Speaker A:According to CIO Dive, which I think may be the first time we've ever mentioned them on this show.
Speaker A:The announcement was made by EVP and Chief People Officer Donna Morris at MIT Technology Review's MTech AI Summit.
Speaker A:Chad, did you get your invite for that one?
Speaker A:I didn't.
Speaker B:Got lost.
Speaker B:Lost in the mail.
Speaker A:Yeah, the MTech AI Summit.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I have to keep that on my radar screen for next year.
Speaker A:Which essentially framed the initiative explicitly around removing friction from associates workflows and not replacing workers.
Speaker A:AI certifications are currently open to associates in the US and Canada, 1.7 million of the company's workforce, and are offered through Walmart's internal associate facing platform called Squiggly.
Speaker A:Yes, Squiggly.
Speaker A:And I don't know about you Jeff, but I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that naming meeting.
Speaker A:We do have to talk to.
Speaker A:I love Walmart, but we have to talk about their names.
Speaker A:Their names are a little bit crazy sometimes, but it was done in partnership with OpenAI and Google Gemini for role specific tracks.
Speaker A:From a scale standpoint, training 2.1 million employees in AI skills will likely be the largest workforce transformation effort ever attempted in the history of retail, or arguably in any industry for that matter.
Speaker A:Jen.
Speaker A:So to close us out as our resident talent expert, what advice would you have to Walmart as it embarks on its effort to train its entire workforce of 2.1 million employees on AI.
Speaker B:This one is so interesting because it's one of those, like, of course they have to do this.
Speaker B:Of course we all have to be looking to train our employees on AI and the way we're going to use it in, in the world of the future, in the.
Speaker B:We'll say the future of retail in this case.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And also I'm like, there's no way this plays out cleanly because we're training on AI.
Speaker B:The challenge with AI.
Speaker B:I was just talking to a CEO earlier this week about this.
Speaker B:The challenge with AI is as soon as you train it, it's old, it's different.
Speaker B:There's a new model, there's a new integration.
Speaker B:It isn't something.
Speaker B:And not that tech hasn't always been a little bit that way, but AI is just moving at the speed of light, right?
Speaker B:So when you say things like AI certifications are available to employees.
Speaker B:I think that's very meaningful.
Speaker B:I think that's the way training departments have typically operated inside of retail.
Speaker B:Like we come up with this certification program, they learn it, they're trained on it, we're done.
Speaker B:Maybe there's a 2.0 next year.
Speaker B:This is going to be very different.
Speaker B:Like, I really feel for those internal training and development leaders on what on earth do we do with AI because it's very much individualized, like you can share how to use it and best practice, but that individual.
Speaker B:Each employee, I believe, has to have the ownership and the curiosity to then continue learning because it's going to be different tomorrow and it's going to be have new data tomorrow.
Speaker B:So what advice would I have for Walmart?
Speaker B:I think they've got people much smarter than I in those seats that are figuring this out.
Speaker B:But I would just say we need to be very cognizant about continued learning.
Speaker B:I don't think it's a check mark and a certification.
Speaker B:I think it's a how do we stay in front of this forever?
Speaker B:I mean, forever.
Speaker B:Such a scary word, right?
Speaker B:But it's a forever project.
Speaker B:It's not a one and done.
Speaker B: going to be done with this by: Speaker B:That doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker B:I think it's more just a new way of business.
Speaker B:Does that make sense, Chris?
Speaker A:It does, it does.
Speaker A:And yeah, and I don't think you should sell yourself short too, because I think this is a tough challenge for any executive who's facing it right now.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm happy to jump in and help them.
Speaker B:I'm just saying I'm certain, certain training and development teams across the nation are looking at this right now.
Speaker B:Right on.
Speaker B:How will we train and continue to train at the speed of light as we move forward?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And experience isn't something you have until after you need it, which is one of my favorite sayings of all time.
Speaker A:And no one has experience on how to do this.
Speaker A:No one.
Speaker A:Somebody could try to tell you that they do, but they're, they're lying, bald face lying to you if that's the case.
Speaker A:So, you know, Jed, I, the word that I, that I kept coming back to you and think about this headline was gargantuan.
Speaker A:I mean, this is just a gargantuan effort.
Speaker A:And I applaud the effort.
Speaker A:I think like you said, it's something you have to do.
Speaker A:And so I was trying to think back, like if I was, if I was an Executive sitting around with all the executives again and like, say, you know, back in my Target days and Target was thinking about doing this, I think what I would have said to them is.
Speaker A:Or the.
Speaker A:Or the 2 cents I would have thrown in, which maybe it's not even worth 2 cents, would have been go slow and be deliberate.
Speaker A:And here's the other point I would make.
Speaker A:I would also start from the top down and roll out the training from there.
Speaker A:And the reason I say that is because the leaders have to understand it themselves in order to help guide their teams.
Speaker A:If you have everyone learning everything all at once, I feel like it could just create cultural confusion and a lot of uncertainty and certainty in your job and understanding what you have to do every day and what's asked of you is really important.
Speaker A:So I wouldn't want to rush this and get that out of whack, especially when things are going so well at Walmart.
Speaker A:So I'd just be very slow and deliberate and I'd probably go more top down than bottoms up on this.
Speaker B:I think it's interesting you say slow and deliberate because slow, it doesn't feel like you can move slow in the world of AI.
Speaker B:Like, oh, we're behind if we're not using this new version 5.0.
Speaker B:That does eight other things.
Speaker B:However, I agree with you on the slow, because what we're going to see and what I've already seen is this fatigue around change.
Speaker B:We've.
Speaker B:We're all used to change.
Speaker B:The only thing that's certain is change.
Speaker B:Right, we know that.
Speaker B:And if you're constantly pinging like, there's this new way, hey, guys, there's a new way.
Speaker B:We're going to train you on this today.
Speaker B:Like, it has to be constant, but at the same time, the word you use, deliberate.
Speaker B:Like, we have to think long and hard about where AI can make the biggest impact and where human interaction needs to stay as is.
Speaker B:Because I think there will be some that win by not moving forward with all of the AI.
Speaker B:Like, there are places we can use it and places we shouldn't.
Speaker B:And I think it's really important for businesses to be very clear about their intent on where we do not put AI into the process, if that makes sense.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker A:And I think it's a great point to end on because I think, you know, the value of historical perspective is also important.
Speaker A:And so you and I also live through the E commerce boom of the past, you know, since the mid-90s.
Speaker A:And I think the thing, the point I would make to what you Just said is slow is very different than dismissive.
Speaker A:I think what got companies in trouble during E commerce was they were dismissive of it and just said, we're not going to do it.
Speaker A:It's fine.
Speaker A:We'll just put it to the side, let other people deal with it.
Speaker A:And then many of those companies are gone.
Speaker A:And so I think with AI, you have to be invested in it and want to apply it and wholeheartedly be all in on it.
Speaker A:But to your point, how do you tackle it and roll it out?
Speaker A:I think you have to be slow and deliberate and take off and bite it off with what you're able to bite off because you're still going to get the value from that.
Speaker A:That's how I think of it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, and just one last note here.
Speaker B:I have tried to wrap my head around in many conversations like whose responsibility is this?
Speaker B:And I don't know.
Speaker B:It is different in every organization because is it, is it the CTO talking about the tech side of the things?
Speaker B:Is it the chro to figure out how do we develop our teams to like, make sure they're in implementing these AI pieces?
Speaker B:Is it each and every division or department like you and I have talked about, Chris, where it's like, no, every department head needs to be thinking about how they can use it in their space.
Speaker B:But it is a job in itself to be exploring all of these options and understanding where they could fit in the process.
Speaker B:So it's almost like we need like a head of marketing and then a, a pseudo what's next for AI position.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:In every department.
Speaker B:That is their support in exploring that.
Speaker B:Because it, it's very, the lines are very blurred on whose responsibility it can be because of the way it works and the way employees interface with it.
Speaker A:And it starts at the top.
Speaker A:I mean, it really does.
Speaker A:Like, if your CEO doesn't understand it.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Which is why it was publicly said that Doug McMillan stepped down and they felt John Furneaux was the right one because they felt he was the right one to lead Walmart into this next age of AI.
Speaker A:And it starts there.
Speaker A:And for what it's worth, I could not believe just the, the, the, the wonderful things people had to say about John.
Speaker A:I mean, I love the man, but the wonderful things people had to say about him at all the conferences I was at the past few weeks as they really believe he's the right person to do that.
Speaker A:And, and you're right, Jen.
Speaker A:I mean, it starts, it starts there.