Dive Brief:
- Walmart credited AI for operational improvements and inventory efficiency amid rising revenues, executives said Thursday during the company's Q4 earnings call for its 2026 fiscal year.
- “The way we’re using technology and AI is helping us create great customer solutions, reduce friction, simplify decision-making and pinpoint where our inventory is — all while maintaining the trust we’ve earned from our customers and members,” said CEO John Furner during his first earnings call as CEO. Furner succeeded former CEO Doug McMillon on Feb. 1.
- Adoption efforts around automation, particularly on inventory management, helped the company boost sales despite tariff headwinds, executives said. The company reported $713 billion in revenues for the full fiscal year, up 4.7% year over year.
Dive Insight:
Walmart has aggressively pursued establishing a solid technology foundation, setting the tone for the retail sector and quickly adapting to the AI push in recent years.
In 2025, the company rolled out AI-powered assistant tools to associates, established a set of four super agents across operations and integrated AI services into its associate app, reaching 1.5 million workers. The retail giant also expanded its AI leadership lineup with a newly created AI acceleration role and partnered with OpenAI to offer training to employees.
CFO John David Rainey told investors during the call that efforts around automation have helped boost Walmart’s ability to move merchandise to stores and consumers efficiently.
“Approximately 60% of stores are receiving some freight from automated distribution centers, and approximately 50% of e-commerce fulfillment center volume is automated,” Rainey said of its U.S.-based operations. “This enables better visibility into what inventory we own and inventory we can access, and also improves our labor productivity.”
Furner name-checked shopping assistant Sparky — one of Walmart’s four super agents — as a driver of customer spend. Shoppers using Sparky had a 35% higher order value than average shoppers, and engagement metrics increased during the fourth quarter, Furner said.
“Agentic commerce is going to be great for our customers,” Furner said. “Agentic AI will be great for our associates, because it helps them focus on the things that are most important.”
As a retailer, Walmart is not alone in its push toward AI deployment. The sector ranked among the top five industries in terms of AI agent maturity, according to a report by Capgemini published last year. More than half of retailers increased their generative AI investments in 2025, the firm said.
Going forward, Walmart plans to continue its strategy of tech-vendor partnerships to support further AI deployment.
“As you’ve seen from the announcements we’ve made, we’re approaching AI development through partnerships,” Rainey said. “This lets tech companies do what they do best — develop innovative technology, and it provides us clarity to do what we do best — to translate the best of tech to retail experiences that create value for our customers and members and our enterprise.”
