Target is creating a dedicated leadership role for artificial intelligence as it expands AI efforts across the business. The retailer has appointed Chandhu Nair as its first chief AI officer, with the executive set to join the company on August 24 as senior vice president and chief AI officer.
Nair spent more than 6 years at Lowe’s, most recently serving as senior vice president of stores, data, AI and innovation. Earlier in his career, he worked at Staples and Gap and founded 2 ventures, including a data analytics software company and a business strategy consulting startup.
Target is also promoting Purvi Shah, its current vice president of user experience design, to senior vice president of UX. Shah has spent 4 years developing Target’s user experience systems and helped launch a conversational shopping experience in ChatGPT 8 months ago.
“What excites me most is the opportunity to make AI real for the people who experience Target every day,” Nair said. “The most meaningful AI stories won’t be about what happens in a lab. They’ll be about what happens on the front line — how we make shopping easier for a guest, give a team member a better tool, make a business decision with more confidence or bring a new idea to market faster.”
Nair said his first focus will be listening and learning by working with teams and understanding the business from the perspective of guests, employees and partners. Potential areas include improving inventory management, simplifying employee work and enabling faster decisions.
Target has already introduced AI initiatives such as Target Trend Brain, which predicts styles, colours and materials shoppers may want. It also launched a conversational AI tool for gift recommendations during the last holiday season.
Target reported Q1 net sales of $25.4 billion, up 6.7% year-on-year, and raised its full-year sales growth target to around 4%. CEO Michael Fiddelke maintained a cautious outlook because of macroeconomic uncertainty.
The appointment places Target among companies such as Meta, Google, IBM, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Accenture and PwC that have created chief AI officer roles. Retail competitors including Walmart, Gap and Best Buy are also expanding their AI strategies.
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