Walmart CEO Doug McMillon: AI Will Change Millions of Jobs

There is no denying that AI is changing the way that corporations function, with Fortune 500 tech giants Microsoft and Nvidia commenting on the way that the technology is reshaping their workforces.

But moving away from the tech-world, AI is now moulding the way that the retail industry functions, from impact on consumer purchasing habits to everyday jobs that can be completed more efficiently with the software.

The CEO of multinational retail firm Walmart, Doug McMillon has warned that AI will reshape every single job across its 2.1 million workforce from cashiers to store managers.

Talking at the Harvard Business Review’s Future of Business 2025 event on 3 November, Doug said: “Every job we’ve got is going to change in some way – whether it’s getting the shopping carts off the parking lot, or the way our technologists work or certainly the way leadership roles change.”

During the event – which comes just two weeks after the company announced a collaboration with Sam Altman’s OpenAI – he added that employees are being trained to use AI tools to prepare them for the future of machine-assisted commerce.

Doug added: “What we want to do is equip everybody to be able to make the most of new tools that are available, learn, adapt, add value, drive growth and still be a really large employer years from now.”

This warning was part of the CEOs leadership conversation ‘Leading with Purpose in Uncertain Times’, speaking alongside other execs including the co-Founder of Moderna Noubar Afeyan and CEO of Standard Bank Sim Tshabalala.

Walmart’s partnership with OpenAI

The US-founded company announced on 14 October that it has partnered with OpenAI to create “AI-first shopping experiences”, allowing customers to shop Walmart through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout.

This will allow customers to plan meals, restock essentials and discover new products through asking the chat, moving beyond traditional ecommerce towards “personalised, contextual and multi-media interactions”.

Announcing the collaboration, the Walmart CEO said that the traditional search bar and long list of item responses is about to change as it works towards a “more enjoyable and convenient future”.

According to Walmart, this partnership will develop to enhance the product catalogue and reduce fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks – ensuring a more seamless shopping journey and cutting customer care resolution times by up to 40%.

Walmart said in a statement: “The future of retail isn’t about replacing human connection with machines, it’s about using AI to remove friction and make everyday moments easier, smarter and more delightful.”

In a statement at the time, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “We’re excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. 

“It’s just one way AI will help people every day under our work together.”

Transitioning towards AI

The retailer, operating in more than 10,000 locations, will use Walmart Academies to give workers the skills they need to adapt to an AI future.

Walmart Academies is an in-house training centre for its employees, offering a variety of programmes from introductory skills to advanced leadership.

It serves associates through both physical classrooms at one of their Supercentres and virtual reality technology.

Why upskilling is vital as AI changes workforce

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in October that he imagines his company to be a fusion of human and digital workers working side by side.

In an interview with Citadel Securities published on 15 October, the Nvidia CEO said AI employees will be a “couple-of-trillon dollar market opportunity probably”, with “AI digital nurses, AI accountants, AI lawyers”.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you licence some and you hire some, depending on the quality and depending on the deep expertise”, Jensen added. “I tell my CIO, our company’s IT department, they’re going to be the HR department of agentic AI in the future.”

Amongst fears that AI will replace human jobs, many CEOs of multinational companies are expressing that employees will be taught to adapt and grow with the AI surge.

At his talk, Doug said Walmart is working to “be the best in the world at application” of AI.