How Walmart Is Empowering Its Associates Through Generative AI

New app feature for campus workers will help streamline job functions

9/5/2023

Walmart is letting its campus associates harness to power of AI to make their jobs easier.

In an effort to help increase productivity and unlock transformation for its campus associates in the United States, Walmart has launched a generative AI-powered feature dubbed My Assistant. The desktop and mobile app experience can speed up the drafting process, serve as a creative partner, summarize large documents and much more.

According to Walmart, My Assistant has the potential to change how its associates work and solve problems. The goal is for the technology to free workers from monotonous, repetitive tasks, allowing more time and focus for improving customer and member experiences.

“It will take both people and technology to deliver on our purpose to help people save money and live better,” wrote Donna Morris, EVP, chief people officer, in a LinkedIn post. “GenAI can help us work faster and more efficiently, but it also has limitations: it lacks judgment, has a limited understanding of context and is only as good as the data it’s trained on. For out-of-the-box, truly brand-new thinking – that’s what humans are good at. Our humanity is what sets us apart and always will be.”

Morris also shared that Walmart has been using AI and generative AI precursors for several years, and has already developed guidelines to aid associates in the responsible usage of the new technology.

“We see a lot of opportunity across the enterprise to remove friction, provide a personalized interface and deliver the tools our associates need right in the palm of their hands, and My Assistant is just one way we’re streamlining the associate experience with technology,” Morris wrote.

The new feature is housed within Walmart’s Me@Campus app, which is a one-stop shop to navigate all aspects of working for the retailer.

Each week, approximately 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company as one of its Retailers of the Century.