Walmart-owned Flipkart has appointed senior executive Hemant Badri to lead its artificial intelligence transformation charter, as the e-commerce major sharpens its ambition to become an “AI-first” organisation, chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy said in an internal communication to employees, as per multiple reports.
Badri, who currently serves as senior vice-president and head of supply chain, customer experience and re-commerce, will take on the additional responsibility of driving AI adoption across the company. His mandate includes identifying and operationalising business use cases where AI can deliver the highest impact, the note said.
Krishnamurthy reportedly said Badri will work closely with Balaji Thiagarajan, who will continue to provide strategic direction to the One Tech organisation and lead technology strategy and engineering efforts aimed at building an AI-native Flipkart.
In the email, Krishnamurthy highlighted the need for Flipkart to double down on AI capabilities as the competitive landscape evolves rapidly. “To drive this with speed and scale, Hemant will lead this critical AI Transformation Charter, in addition to his current responsibilities,” he said, adding that intelligent systems must sit at the core of what the company builds.
According to the CEO, an AI-first approach will translate into more intuitive customer experiences, more efficient tools for sellers to drive growth, and higher internal productivity by automating routine tasks. However, he stressed that technology would not replace human judgement.
“It will sharpen it,” Krishnamurthy said, advocating a “human-in-the-loop” approach to ensure that AI systems remain grounded in the needs of customers and sellers.
Describing the move as part of a broader organisational shift, Krishnamurthy said AI adoption would require ownership across functions and teams. Badri’s operational depth, he added, would be key to translating AI strategy into on-ground execution.
Flipkart has been steadily increasing investments in automation, data science and machine learning as it competes with rivals in India’s fast-growing e-commerce market, backed by parent Walmart. |
