Walmart CEO warns AI will change every job

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says workers in every role must be prepared to adapt to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

“It’s very clear that AI will literally change every job,” McMillon told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday, adding, “Maybe there’s one job in the world AI won’t change, but I haven’t thought of it.”

McMillon joined other high-profile CEOs signaling plans to reduce their corporate workforces in the coming years as they integrate more AI tools and agents — including Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Ford’s Jim Farley. Walmart plans to freeze its global workforce of 2.1 million over the next three years, while still forecasting revenue growth driven by broader AI adoption, according to the Journal.

He expects white-collar office jobs to be among the first affected, as Walmart rolls out more AI-powered chatbots and tools to handle customer service tasks and supply chain tracking.

Eventually, Walmart store and warehouse workers will also see more AI-driven tasks, and remaining employees will need to embrace new technologies to stay relevant, McMillon said in a recent interview published Sunday by the Associated Press.

“I think no one really knows how exactly this will evolve,” he said, reiterating his expectation that “essentially, every job changes.”