Walmart launched an AI certification program for associates with OpenAI in June, following a similar program with Google earlier this year. One of the first people through the new certificate was Darlene Lane, a 43-year company veteran and manager of learning and development, who says she now uses AI as a “thought partner” for building training programs. “I’m probably the least technical person that you will ever meet,” Lane said during Walmart’s Associates Week in Springdale, Arkansas. “If I can get it and understand it, 99.9% of people out there can.”
The certifications sit inside a wider push to spread AI through the organization, including use cases highlighted by Daniel Danker (evp of AI acceleration) in a LinkedIn post: store managers building digital dashboards for scheduling and merchandising associates turning dense text into graphics. The company is also keeping a sharp eye on AI costs, curbing redundant use cases. Like many brands, Walmart demonstrates enthusiasm, but increasingly with a budget line.
The more interesting examples are the ones associates built themselves. An AI agent in fresh departments and bakeries coaches employees on food handling and cake decoration, reviewing a photo of the finished cake and giving feedback grounded in Walmart’s internal guidance. A logistics manager in the transportation department completed the Google certification, then built an app that helps drivers find loads that get them home on time at the end of the week. “It reduces empty miles, it saves the company money, and it helps keep Walmart’s commitment to getting drivers home,” said chief talent officer Lorraine Stomski.
Stomski’s framing stays firmly in the tool-not-replacement register: AI will “remove friction,” “amplify the key components of our associates’ roles,” and help employees “lift up their curiosity, their compassion and their daily thinking.”
Josh Allen, group director of learning strategy, said the OpenAI certificate covers AI fluency, responsible use, and human judgment, personalized by role — basic confidence for newcomers, help with coaching and planning for store and club leaders, analysis skills for operations and merchandising. Inside the program, ChatGPT asks employees about their personal goals and explains what it can do: structuring plans, creating agendas, tailoring messaging, and drafting communications.
Enterprise AI often arrives top-down as deployed tooling, while Walmart’s certificates are producing it bottom-up, from the people who do the work. “For Walmart, the opportunity is not just to train people on AI,” Allen said. “It is to build a learning model that can scale across a large workforce while still feeling relevant to each individual associate.”
Read more at Modern Retail.