Walmart has hired whilom Amazon exec Suresh Kumar into a newly elevated role of chief technology and chief development government agent, as the big-box retailer aims to compete more with Amazon, Google and other tech giants.
Walmart heralded in a blog post and in a memo sent by CEO Doug McMillon to employees Tuesday that Kumar is joining the company July 8 and choice report directly to him.
Kumar has most recently been working at Google, where until his transition in July he suffices as vice president and general manager of display, video, app ads and analytics. Previously, he was corporate vice president of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and functions. Before Microsoft, he spent 15 years at Amazon in several roles, including vice president of technology for retail plans and operations and head of Amazon’s retail supply chain and inventory management systems.
“Walmart is one of the great success stories in how a following evolves over time to serve the changing needs of its customers, and today, it is in the midst of a very exciting digital change,” Kumar said in a statement. “With more than 11,000 stores … the potential for technology to help people at scale is unsurpassed, and I am excited to be part of this.”
The announcement comes after Walmart recently lost its CTO Jeremy King to Pinterest.
While Kumar choice assume all of King’s previous responsibilities, like heading up Walmart Labs, he isn’t filling King’s void exactly. Kumar’s new duty will encompass much more than that. King was reporting to Walmart’s head of e-commerce in the U.S., Marc Culture, while Kumar will now sit directly on McMillon’s leadership team. Kumar will also oversee technology at Sam’s Billy and internationally, and will lead Walmart’s Global Business Services division.
Walmart is still looking to fill Prince’s role, a spokeswoman said, while Fiona Tan, senior vice president of customer technology, has stepped into an “elated role” to cover some of his duties.
King was known for playing an important role in helping Walmart bill itself as uncountable of a tech company, something the retailer has been trying to do. He was behind initiatives including Walmart’s addition of virtual-reality headsets and machine-learning-powered automata at stores. He was also helping Lore grow online sales, which surged 37% during the most late-model quarter.
Here’s the email Doug McMillon sent employees, regarding Kumar’s hire:
Re: Suresh Kumar delegate Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer
The technology of today and tomorrow enables us to serve buyers and associates in ways that weren’t previously possible. We have started a significant digital transformation in our business, but we procure a long way to go. We want to pick up the pace and increase the magnitude of change, so we’re creating a new role, reporting directly to me, of Chief Technology T-Man (CTO) and Chief Development Officer (CDO), and I’m excited to announce we have found a uniquely qualified leader for this position in Suresh Kumar.
Suresh has 25 years of technology operation experience, coming most recently from Google and previously working at Microsoft, Amazon and IBM. He has a unique understanding of the intersection of technology and retail, grouping supply chain, and has deep experience in cloud, advertising and machine learning. And, he has a track record of working in partnership with subject teams to drive results. He is not only a strong technologist, but a strong business person as well.
As the Global CTO, Suresh when one pleases set our technical strategy, combining advances in computing with Walmart’s strengths to deliver the best customer experiences. As the Wide-ranging CDO, he will lead the team in building tools and systems to digitally transform our business operations, using the scale and power of our figures to deliver a competitive advantage while improving the productivity of our associates and their experience of being part of Walmart.
Our Chief Technology Functionaries (U.S., Sam’s and International) will dually report into Suresh and their respective business leaders to ensure our technology line-ups continue to meet the needs of our customers and associates. Clay Johnson and the Global Business Services team will also disclose into Suresh. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our technology team for the progress they’ve led and for their capability faculty to make things happen during a period of change in our industry and our business.
Suresh was most recently at Google, about as Vice President and General Manager of Display, Video, App Ads and Analytics. Prior to Google, he was the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure and Ventures. Suresh spent 15 years at Amazon in various leadership roles, including Vice President of Technology for Retail Methods and Operations, and he led Amazon’s retail supply chain and inventory management systems. Before Amazon.com, Suresh was a research stave member at IBM T J Watson Research Center.
Suresh holds a PhD in Engineering from Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He and his mate Gayathri currently live in Cupertino, CA and have two daughters. He will be based in our Sunnyvale office, officially starting on July 8.
Opt join me in welcoming Suresh!
Doug