BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has appointed tech industry veteran Suresh Kumar to a new chief technology officer and chief development officer role position, reporting directly to president and chief executive officer Doug McMillon.
Suresh Kumar
Kumar brings more than 25 years of technology leadership experience — including executive positions at Google, Microsoft, Amazon and IBM — to the new, elevated position at Walmart, the retailer said on Tuesday.
“The technology of today and tomorrow enables us to serve our customers and associates in ways that weren’t previously possible. We want to take full advantage of those opportunities,” McMillon said in a statement. “Suresh has a unique understanding of the intersection of technology and retail, including supply chain, and has deep experience in advertising, cloud and machine learning. And, he has a track record of working in partnership with business teams to drive results.”
Kumar most recently served as vice president and general manager of display, video, app ads and analytics at Google. He previously was the corporate vice president of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and operations, and before that Kumar spent 15 years at Amazon in various leadership roles, including vice president of technology for retail systems and operations. He also led Amazon’s retail supply chain and inventory management systems.
Kumar holds a PhD in engineering from Princeton University, as well as a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India.
“Walmart is one of the great success stories in how a company evolves over time to serve the changing needs of its customers,” Kumar said. “And today, it is in the midst of a very exciting digital transformation. With more than 11,000 stores, a high-growth eCommerce business and more than two million associates worldwide, the potential for technology to help people at scale is unparalleled, and I am excited to be part of this.”
