Walmart is accelerating its transformation into an AI-powered enterprise by blending human expertise with artificial intelligence. The retail titan is expanding its recruitment of software engineers while simultaneously developing an ecosystem of AI agents to automate routine workflows and enhance engineering productivity.

Building an AI-Driven Workforce

Despite the rise of intelligent automation, Walmart continues to invest aggressively in human talent. The company is recruiting developers skilled in artificial intelligence and automation to complement its expanding portfolio of AI-driven tools. Sravana Karnati, Executive Vice President of Global Technology Platforms, underscored that engineering talent remains critical to the organization’s success. “Good engineers are always needed,” he stated, emphasizing Walmart’s commitment to a tech-forward workforce.

Even as AI automates more tasks, Walmart views human creativity and problem-solving as essential. The company’s hiring strategy includes recruiting “agent developers” responsible for deploying AI systems that manage complex workflows—signaling an evolution in how engineering teams operate inside the organization.

Adapting to the AI Era

Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon recently acknowledged that artificial intelligence will “change literally every job.” While certain tasks will be automated, AI will also open the door to new roles focused on developing, maintaining, and guiding these intelligent systems. Over the coming years, the company expects its overall workforce size to remain steady, although the skill composition will shift significantly toward AI-related capabilities.

As part of this transition, Walmart continues to invest in employee training and reskilling initiatives to ensure its teams adapt to the demands of AI-powered operations. A company spokesperson confirmed that the retailer plans to “keep upskilling and redeploying talent to areas that demand uniquely human strengths.”

The Rise of AI Agents Inside Walmart

One of Walmart’s most ambitious initiatives involves the large-scale deployment of AI agents—digital assistants that can perform tasks autonomously. These agents are already increasing productivity across software engineering teams. According to Karnati, the agents have helped automate time-consuming operations such as accessibility compliance checks for digital platforms.

The results have been striking: 60% of accessibility-related software issues are now identified automatically, and 95% of them are fixed through AI-driven interventions. This has led to an eightfold improvement in productivity in areas related to compliance and accessibility standards.

Empowering Engineers with ‘Wibey’ Super Agent

In August, Walmart introduced Wibey, a powerful “super agent” platform designed for engineers. Wibey unifies the retailer’s growing ecosystem of more than 200 AI agents, enabling developers to register, manage, and share their custom agents with colleagues. This internal platform acts as a digital marketplace for AI capabilities—allowing teams to reuse and scale automation solutions across departments.

By democratizing access to AI-powered tools, Wibey ensures that Walmart’s engineers can innovate faster, minimize redundancy, and focus more energy on advanced problem-solving.

Modernizing Legacy Systems with AI

Walmart’s engineering teams are also using AI to modernize decades-old software written in traditional mainframe languages. Before the integration of AI, developers often needed to consult senior engineers to understand legacy codebases. Today, AI-powered assistants provide instant guidance, automate code reviews, and generate recommendations—speeding up modernization efforts and reducing dependency on specialized legacy knowledge.

More than 95% of Walmart’s engineers now use AI coding tools such as GitHub Copilot and JetBrains to streamline development tasks. This integration of AI into daily workflows has transformed how projects are executed, making engineers more efficient and collaborative.

Humans and AI: A Collaborative Future

As Walmart envisions its future, the relationship between human engineers and AI agents will continue to evolve. Karnati believes that AI systems will soon become capable of working together autonomously, handling increasingly complex tasks during off-hours or at scale. For instance, AI agents may collaborate overnight to troubleshoot issues, leaving human managers to review and approve results in the morning.

However, he emphasized that humans will remain integral to the process. “We’re not at a point where we can let an agent run loose and solve all kinds of problems,” Karnati explained. “We will still keep humans in the loop.”

Redefining Productivity and Innovation

Walmart’s strategy illustrates how corporations can embrace automation without sidelining human ingenuity. By creating a hybrid workforce of developers and AI agents, the company is redefining both productivity and the nature of engineering work.

As automation and human expertise converge, Walmart stands as a leading example of how large enterprises can leverage AI not only to optimize operations but also to empower employees to focus on higher-value innovation. The company’s long-term vision suggests a future where engineers and AI agents collaborate seamlessly—transforming how work is defined and delivered in the digital age.

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