Walmart CEO Issues Wake-Up Call: 'AI Is Going to Change Every Job' (www.wsj.com)

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon issued a blunt warning that “AI is going to change every job,” and the company — the nation’s largest private employer — is publicly planning to confront that shift rather than ignore it. McMillon’s message signals a strategic pivot: expect Walmart to accelerate adoption of AI tools across stores, warehouses and corporate functions while preparing for workforce impacts through retraining, redeployment and pilot automation programs. The announcement is notable because Walmart’s size means its choices will shape hiring, wages and skills demand across U.S. retail and logistics. Technically, the move implies broader deployment of machine learning systems that augment or replace routine tasks: large language models and generative AI for customer service and back‑office work, computer vision and sensor-driven checkout/stocking systems in stores, robotics and automated fulfillment in warehouses, and advanced forecasting/scheduling models for supply chains and labor optimization. For the AI/ML community this raises immediate priorities — scalable deployment, edge inference, integration with legacy systems, human-in-the-loop workflows, data governance and reskilling pipelines — and underscores the socio-technical mandate to build models and policies that maximize productivity while mitigating displacement.