Walmart’s AI Job Shift: The Emerging Role of Agent-Builders

Why It Matters

Embedding multidisciplinary AI agent builders positions Walmart to scale intelligent automation faster, turning data into actionable insights that can reshape retail operations and profit margins.

Key Takeaways

• Walmart shifted AI agent builders from merchandising to technology team
• Team includes veterans, early‑career hires, lawyers, finance and merch experts
• Core traits: curiosity, adaptability, gaming mindset, strong questioning ability
• Agents embedded in platforms, later placed near business units they serve
• Blend of domain knowledge and fresh eyes drives effective agent deployment

Summary

Walmart is redefining its AI workforce by creating a dedicated "agent‑builder" function that migrated from its merchandising division into the broader technology organization. The move reflects the retailer’s ambition to construct agentic platforms where autonomous software agents can streamline product buying, inventory, and other core processes.

The new team draws talent from a wide spectrum: long‑time Walmart veterans, recent graduates, lawyers, finance professionals, and former merchandisers. What unites them is a shared curiosity, high adaptability, a gamer‑like drive to experiment, and a talent for asking incisive questions that surface hidden inefficiencies.

Executives highlighted specific hires—a seasoned lawyer and a finance analyst—who now collaborate with engineers to design agents. Their diverse backgrounds enable both deep domain insight and fresh, outsider perspectives, which the company believes accelerates agent placement decisions.

By embedding these builders within the platforms and eventually co‑locating them with the business units they serve, Walmart aims to accelerate AI adoption, reduce time‑to‑value, and maintain a competitive edge in retail automation.

Original Description

What does it mean to introduce AI across one of the largest workforces on the planet?

In this clip from the Where AI Works podcast, Donna Morris, the Chief People Officer at Walmart, joins host and Wharton Management Professor Matthew Bidwell to discuss the company’s “people-led, tech-powered” approach, where AI is used to augment employees rather than replace them. She also discusses the emergence of new roles like AI agent-builders , and explores the skills that matter most in an AI-driven workplace. While technical expertise is important, Morris argues that adaptability, communication, curiosity, and interpersonal skills will define the most successful employees in the years ahead.

Listen to the full episode, “People-Led, Tech-Powered: Walmart’s AI Job Shift”, and subscribe to the show here: https://whr.tn/3G41Rlb

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Brought to you by the Wharton School in collaboration with Accenture, Where AI Works explores AI’s real-world impact on business. Each four-episode season takes a fresh approach, led by a different Wharton faculty expert who brings their own AI-focused expertise to the conversation, alongside practitioners actively shaping AI’s role in innovation, strategy, and transformation.

Episodes are released on Thursdays every two weeks wherever you get your podcasts, with video excerpts published to the Wharton School's YouTube channel.

#aipodcast #aiinsights #hrtransformation #wharton #walmart

-----

Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world.

With a standing faculty of 241 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000+ students across four degree programs: undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral. Each year 13,000+ professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs – with 200,000+ others earning certificates from Wharton Online since 2015. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day.

Learn more about Wharton: https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/

Subscribe to the Wharton YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/thewhartonschool/?sub_confirmation=1