Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, says its Indian Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are building everything from Agentic AI to core infrastructure, according to Suresh Kumar, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer.
“We want to invest in India primarily to tap into the great talent that we have. Whether it is the latest Agentic AI capabilities, core infrastructure, or capability. So, it forms a very integral part of how we run global technology,” Kumar told Moneycontrol ahead of Walmart’s Converge event.
Walmart operates two GCCs in India, located in Bengaluru and Chennai. Globally, the company employs about 21 lakh people, most of whom work in stores. Employees in corporate offices make up a small percentage.
Meanwhile, the major focus for Walmart’s GCCs is Agentic AI, systems that can operate like autonomous “super-agents,” bringing together multiple capabilities to execute the retail industry’s complex tasks end-to-end on the software side.
A GCC is a captive unit set up by a company to carry out information technology (IT) and related business functions. At present, India is home to over 1,700 GCCs, employing close to 2 million people, and is poised to contribute 3.5 percent to the GDP by 2030.
Agentic AI at the core
The company launched Wibey, Walmart’s internal AI agent designed for developers. Wibey assists across the full lifecycle of software development, from drafting product specifications to design, coding, testing, deployment, and post-launch monitoring.
According to Kumar, this has already reduced feature development cycles from weeks to days.
On the customer side, Walmart has launched Sparky, a conversational, multimodal AI assistant that allows shoppers to interact using voice, text, or even images. A customer planning a trip, for instance, could ask Sparky for luggage recommendations and receive suggestions not just for suitcases but for packing essentials as well.
“We believe AI will fundamentally change how our customers shop,” Kumar further added. “It’s about making the experience more natural and more delightful.”
And to make it all work, the company does not differentiate between teams spread across locations, especially the GCCs. Experts have warned that these captive centres should have a global mandate to be fully efficient.
“We work like one global team between the US and India and work on the global problems,” Balu Chaturvedula, Country Head, Walmart Global Tech, told Moneycontrol.
Also, read: GCC is truly successful when it becomes another headquarters: Accenture India GCC lead
AI’s impact on retail operations
Beyond product development and shopping experiences, Walmart is also deploying AI deep into its stores and supply chain.
For example, Wispik, an AI augmented reality tool, helps its store associates locate inventory in the back room and restock shelves more efficiently.
When asked about the guardrails the company has put in place to ensure AI agents deliver value, especially in the wake of Gartner’s prediction that over 40 percent of Agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027, Kumar said Walmart uses a “human-in-the-loop” approach to validate AI outputs.
For more subjective tasks, such as product recommendations, the company uses multiple models and even a “third agent” to cross-check results.
“Guardrails are very important, but how you implement them depends on the problem you are trying to solve,” he added.
Future of work with AI
Kumar also addressed concerns about AI’s impact on jobs.
Walmart employs millions worldwide, and while he acknowledged that roles would evolve, Kumar highlighted that the company expects headcount to remain stable.
“We believe that in the long run, we will have roughly the same number of people, give or take,” the former Google and Microsoft executive said.
He added that jobs are going to change, what people work on, and how they work will all be different. Nevertheless, the company is focused on being people-led and tech-powered.
Also, read: Walmart to introduce “several hundred new roles” in US
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