Walmart CEO teases the future of retail

Walmart (WMT) CEO Doug McMillon didn’t sound like he was lecturing us on retail.

In fact, he sounded more like a guy who feels the future is already in motion.

Buried beneath his comments over swifter deliveries and store-fulfilled orders, Walmart’s CEO pointed to a major shift into AI-powered predictive shopping. 

Needless to say, the change is upending how millions of people stock their homes. 

Once the changes go mainstream, shopping will feel less like browsing a website and more like interacting with a robust digital assistant that gets context, intent, and timing. 

Additionally, given Walmart's immense scale, the AI-powered shift should push it to surge past its competition with ease.

Walmart quietly redefines what shopping means

McMillon framed AI as perhaps the new default setting for how Walmart intends to serve its customers.

The idea is built around more suggesting and anticipating, as AI handles the decisions most shoppers usually fret over. 

Additionally, once that level of intelligence is layered across thousands of stores, the implications become even more enormous.

AI becomes the new operating system for retail

McMillon didn’t exactly pitch a moonshot when he talked about the future of retail. 

In fact, he describes a slow yet seismic shift that can already be seen through the world’s largest retailer.

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The signal came when he delved deeper into Walmart’s push into an agentic, multimodal AI. “We have the ability to execute a vision that will be multimodal, more personalized, understand context,” he said. The idea is simple that shopping anticipates you," he said during Walmart's third-quarter earnings call.

McMillon emphasized the big-box retailer’s hybrid advantage, with AI in the mix, and  Walmart’s tremendous physical scale, and things will only get stiffer for its competition.

“Being so close to people… will help us with delivery speed,” he said, pointing to a future rooted as much in stores as in software.

Incoming CEO John Furner pushed the point further. 

Sparky, Walmart’s AI agent, is already “taking more action on behalf of our customers,” from stocking homes to recommending new buys to encourage frictionless shopping.

And underneath all of this, McMillon just made it clear that Walmart’s treating AI as more than just a simple accessory.

 “We are adopting artificial intelligence in its various forms across the company,” he said, framing it as more of an operating layer instead of a tech experiment. 

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With “more than 40% of the new code… AI-generated or AI-assisted,” Walmart is looking to rewrite intelligence directly into its engine. 

Layer with multimodal shopping, swifter U.S. delivery, and the option to “purchase items directly through ChatGPT,” Walmart is poised to write new chapters in its already illustrious growth story.

Quick takeaways on Walmart’s CEO’s take

• AI isn’t optional at Walmart; in fact, it has become the operating system.
• Multimodal shopping has evolved into a browsing experience that feels more like a conversation.
• Walmart’s physical footprint efficiently supercharges its speed, which its peers just cannot match at this point.
• ChatGPT integrations efficiently streamline the process from “want it” to “it’s on the way.”

Walmart’s Q3 turned momentum into a message

Walmart’s Q3 performance wasn’t exactly subtle, but it was the kind that shows off incredible across-the-board strength.

It delivered another strong top-and-bottom-line beat, while its operating income grew even quickly. 

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eCommerce delivered another stellar performance, with ad sales exceeding 50% and memberships continuing to climb. 

Those higher-margin lines account for a third of operating income, shifting Walmart’s identity from big-box giant to omnichannel cash cow. 

Walmart's Q3 at a glance

• Core financial outperformance: Adjusted EPS struck $0.62 (up 7% year-over-year, +$0.02 beat) while sales jumped to $179.5 billion (up 5.8% and 6% constant currency), topping the $177–177.5 billion range. 
• Strong U.S. Store Momentum: Walmart U.S. comps surged to 4.5%, led by growth in both traffic and units, while reinforcing core brick-and-mortar strength
• E-commerce acceleration continues: Global e-commerce skyrocketed 27% (seventh straight quarter over 20%), with Walmart U.S. e-commerce rising 28%.
• High-margin businesses Scale Fast: Advertising sales increased 53% (Walmart Connect + VIZIO), while membership income surged 17%, representing roughly one-third of adjusted operating income.
• Guidance moves higher across the board: For FY26, net sales are now projected to be 4.8–5.1%, and adjusted EPS is projected to be $2.58–$2.63, all bumped from previous ranges.
  Source: Walmart investor relations

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