Big AI Use Case: How Walmart Rebuilt Its Supply Chain

Walmart isn’t just the world’s largest retailer — it’s a logistical and operational powerhouse. Managing millions of SKUs across thousands of stores, fulfillment centers, and last-mile delivery routes globally is a complexity problem of the highest order.

And like many legacy businesses, Walmart hit a ceiling:

• Inventory movement was slow.

• Forecasts were reactive.

• Waste in perishables was persistent.

So Walmart did what few at its scale have done: it rebuilt the foundation.

From Gut Feel to Real-Time Signals

Over the past few years, Walmart has integrated artificial intelligence into every layer of its supply chain — from demand forecasting to dynamic inventory routing to last-mile optimization.

What makes this remarkable isn’t just the tech, but the speed of scale.

“We’ve moved from historical pattern recognition to real-time predictive analytics across the network.”

— Indira Uppuluri, SVP of Supply Chain Technology, Walmart Global Tech

(Business Insider, Sept 2025)

Using inputs like weather, local events, shopping trends, and even social sentiment, Walmart’s systems now determine:

• Which stores are likely to spike in demand

• What inventory needs to move before shelves are empty

• How to reduce food spoilage in perishable categories

• Where transportation routes can be compressed to cut time and emissions

In short: they’ve turned supply chain into a predictive system, not a reactive one.

Scaling Globally

In July 2025, Walmart announced its U.S. supply chain playbook — powered by AI and automation — was being exported to markets like Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada.

(Walmart Newsroom, July 2025)

This includes:

• AI-driven inventory intelligence

• Warehouse automation and robotics

• Dynamic route optimization

• Real-time visibility for store teams

“We are reinventing retail at scale. This is not a pilot. This is how we run our business now.”

— Walmart corporate strategy team

AI as Margin Engine

Walmart’s recent investor calls and earnings updates are signaling a shift in posture. AI isn’t just a “nice to have” — it’s being credited with:

• Improved inventory accuracy

• Shorter lead times

• Lower waste (especially in grocery/perishables)

• More agile e-commerce fulfillment

In fact, Walmart has even started productizing some of this intelligence through Walmart Commerce Technologies — offering their AI-powered logistics platform to external businesses.

(Walmart Newsroom, March 2024)

The Real Lesson

Walmart didn’t chase “AI transformation” in a vacuum.

They started with real friction:

• Unpredictable demand

• Inventory that moved too slowly

• Waste that hit the bottom line

Then they built systems — powered by AI — to respond faster and smarter.

This wasn’t a side experiment. This is operational reinvention.

AI became the lens through which supply chain decisions now get made.