John Furner is Walmart's New CEO
Walmart Inc.
NYSE: WMT
702 South West 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716
United States
Main Phone: (479) 273-4000
Website: https://corporate.walmart.com
Industry Sector: Consumer Defensive, Discount Stores
Full Time Employees: 2,100,000
Fiscal Year End:
Annual Revenues:
CEO: Doug McMillon (outgoing CEO)
John Furner (incoming CEO - Feb 1, 2026)
Fortune 500 Rank: #1 in 2025
John Furner Executive Profile
John Furner, the incoming Chief Executive Officer of Walmart Inc., represents a quintessential story of homegrown leadership within one of the world’s largest companies. Beginning his Walmart career as an hourly associate in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1993, Furner is set to assume the CEO position on February 1, 2026, following a steady rise through a succession of pivotal roles across Walmart’s global operations.
Furner’s management journey encompasses key positions such as assistant store manager, buyer, district manager, regional general manager, divisional merchandising manager, vice president of global sourcing, and head of marketing and merchandising for Walmart China. International exposure and executive tenures as chief merchant at Sam’s Club and CEO of Sam’s Club U.S. further broadened his perspective and operational depth. As CEO of Sam’s Club, Furner revitalized the membership warehouse chain, delivering 11 consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales and spearheading digital transformation and private brand expansion initiatives.
Since 2019, as President and CEO of Walmart U.S., Furner has overseen more than 1.5 million associates and managed the company’s largest operating segment—supervising 4,600+ stores and all channels of the digital business. His hallmark as a leader is balancing operational excellence and profit growth with a people-first culture. He has been lauded for championing technology integration and digital acceleration, as well as for supporting and developing Walmart’s vast workforce. During his tenure, Walmart U.S. has become a model for omnichannel retail, leveraging automation, advanced logistics, and AI-driven customer experiences.
Furner’s leadership style is described as collaborative, inclusive, and hands-on—grounded in a genuine understanding of frontline challenges and global strategy alike. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from the University of Arkansas and maintains significant engagement with the broader retail industry, having served as chairman of the board at the National Retail Federation.
Under Furner’s stewardship, Walmart is poised to further its transformation into a tech-driven, omnichannel powerhouse, continually innovating to serve customers and support associates, while upholding the company’s foundational values.
When will the Walmart CEO transition take effect?
The CEO transition will officially occur on February 1, 2026. Doug McMillon will retire as CEO on January 31, 2026, and remain on Walmart’s Board of Directors through the next annual shareholders’ meeting to support a smooth transition.
What is John Furner’s Background and Experience?
Start at Walmart: Furner began his Walmart career in 1993 as an hourly store associate in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Rise Through Leadership: Over the past 30+ years, Furner has held key roles including store manager, district manager, buyer, regional general manager, divisional merchandising manager, VP of global sourcing, and head of marketing and merchandising for Walmart China.
Sam’s Club Tenure: He served as CEO of Sam’s Club U.S. from 2017 to 2019, where he drove technology adoption, improved membership value, and steered competitive strategies such as closing underperforming stores and focusing on private brands.
CEO of Walmart U.S.: Since 2019, Furner has been responsible for over 4,600 U.S. stores, 1.5 million associates, and Walmart’s omnichannel growth, digital innovation, and supply chain operations.
How Long Has Furner Been with Walmart?
John Furner has been with Walmart for over 30 years, having started in 1993. His entire professional career has been within Walmart and Sam’s Club, offering continuity and deep institutional knowledge.
What are Furner’s Most Notable Accomplishments at Walmart?
Digital and Omnichannel Success: Under Furner’s leadership, Walmart U.S. accelerated its digital transformation and omnichannel capabilities, resulting in improved sales and customer engagement.
Associate Development: Furner is known for championing associate upskilling, engagement, and operational excellence.
AI and Tech Enablement: He has been instrumental in integrating AI into retail operations, modernizing supply chain, and launching customer-facing innovations like AI-powered agents and tools.
Sam’s Club Revitalization: As CEO of Sam’s Club, Furner led initiatives to boost performance, deploy emerging tech, focus on key markets, and enhance the/private label business.
People and Culture: He is praised for his collaborative leadership style, commitment to building a diverse workforce, and fostering a culture of innovation.
What is Furner Planning with AI at Walmart?
Furner’s next chapter at Walmart is expected to usher in an “AI-first” era, emphasizing the fusion of physical and digital retail. Recent highlights and plans include:
AI Deployment: Moving beyond experimentation, Walmart is rolling out AI across multiple retail areas—front-end shopping, supply chain optimization, inventory, marketing, and using generative AI to power customer and associate experiences.
Workforce Integration: Walmart is integrating AI to automate routine tasks, personalize customer engagement, and support associates with tools like real-time translation and conversational AI.
Strategic Vision: Furner’s strategy is to leverage AI for increased operational agility and experiment rapidly with new AI-driven solutions to maintain Walmart’s competitive edge.
Next-Gen Retail: The company’s investments in AI aim to create an “agentic commerce” experience—AI-powered shopping and intelligent automation throughout the business.
Why Was John Furner Selected to Succeed Doug McMillon as CEO?
Several reasons led to Furner’s selection:
Experience Across Walmart: Furner’s decades-long, multi-disciplinary experience spans every segment of Walmart’s business, from entry-level store roles to global strategy and U.S. operations, making him highly qualified to oversee the company’s transformation.
Track Record of Results: He is credited with leading Walmart U.S. through an era of rapid change, steering digital acceleration, and elevating operational performance.
Leadership Values: Furner is known for aligning results with Walmart’s cultural and ethical values, fostering associate development, and championing diversity and inclusion.
AI and Digital Readiness: The Board and Walmart family highlighted Furner’s digital and AI acumen, positioning him as uniquely capable to lead Walmart into its next phase of AI-driven growth and innovation.
Stability and Vision: Amid retail disruption and competition, Furner’s continuity and forward-thinking leadership offer both stability and a progressive vision for the future.
| Question | Answer |
| Who is John Furner? | Walmart veteran with 30+ years at the company, U.S. CEO since 2019 . |
| When is the transition? | Effective February 1, 2026 . |
| Furner’s background? | Started in 1993 as hourly associate; held leadership roles including Walmart China and Sam’s Club . |
| Time at Walmart? | Over 30 years . |
| Key accomplishments? | Led digital/AI integration, boosted U.S. segment, revitalized Sam’s Club, enhanced associate development . |
| AI plans? | Integrate AI company-wide—operations, supply chain, frontline; enable “AI-first” retail . |
| Why Furner? | Breadth of experience, proven change leader, digital/AI readiness, cultural values alignment . |
John Furner’s promotion to CEO marks a new era for Walmart, with a leader steeped in company history and poised to push the retail giant decisively into an AI-powered future.
Walmart Org Chart - Executive Council
Walmart Org Chart - Senior Leadership
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Walmart Org Chart - Senior Leadership cont.
Walmart Org Chart - Board of Directors
Where is Walmart planning to make investments in technology in 2026 and beyond?
Walmart significantly ramped up technology infrastructure investment in 2025, concentrating on AI platforms, automation and supply chain modernization, and network capacity to support an omnichannel, “agentic” retail model.
During 2025, the company expanded its proprietary Element machine-learning platform, powering a growing suite of AI tools for associates, including task-management, real-time translation, and conversational assistants inside the Walmart associate app. It also advanced agentic AI systems announced at its Converge 2025 tech event, designed to orchestrate autonomous reasoning and actions across customer experience, merchandising, and operations.
On the physical side, Walmart accelerated automation in distribution centers and e-commerce fulfillment, deployed robotics and AI-driven warehouse management, and invested heavily in supply chain digital twins and predictive analytics to cut emergency alerts and refrigeration maintenance costs.
Additional 2025 capital went toward IoT sensor networks to track pallets and inventory in near real time, feeding high-resolution data into Walmart’s AI engines.
Looking to 2026 and beyond, Walmart plans to deepen these technology bets rather than diversify away from them. Management has guided CapEx to roughly 3–3.5% of sales, with a clear emphasis on supply chain automation, store automation, and AI-led productivity.
By 2026, Walmart expects a majority of U.S. stores to be served by automated distribution or fulfillment assets, while rolling its new IoT and AI visibility stack across roughly 4,600 supercenters, neighborhood markets, and more than 40 distribution centers.
Walmart also plans to scale agentic AI for customers—via digital shopping agents, personalized recommendations, and partnerships that embed Walmart experiences into external platforms like chat-based interfaces—while continuing to use generative AI for software development, forecasting, and cost optimization.
Collectively, these investments position Walmart to run a more automated, data-rich, and AI-orchestrated retail network through 2026 and well into the next decade.
What value propositions and strategic messages might resonate with technology executives within Suresh Kumar's organization?
Suresh Kumar is the Executive Vice President, Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer at Walmart.
Sales Opportunities
Sales opportunities for SaaS technology sales reps at Walmart cluster around several critical areas: supply chain optimization, omnichannel retail, AI-powered customer experience, e-commerce enablement, automation, data analytics, and workforce management tools. Walmart’s rapid progress under Suresh Kumar’s leadership—toward “adaptive retail” and agentic AI—is driving new buying signals for vendors that can support scalability, data unification, workflow orchestration, and ultrafast integration. Selling solutions that address efficiency, agility, or personalized experiences—especially those that unify disparate platforms or automate high-volume processes—will resonate.
Top strategic messages and value propositions for Suresh Kumar’s IT leadership include:
AI-First Integrations: Solutions that accelerate Walmart’s agentic AI framework, automate decision-making at scale, or enable smarter supply chain, personalization, or omnichannel analytics will command attention.
Unified Data Platforms: SaaS offerings that help Walmart unify structured and unstructured data across in-store, e-commerce, advertising and marketplace environments, enhancing cross-channel visibility and actionable insights for both merchandising and marketing teams.
Robust Security & Compliance: Value out robust, seamless security architecture, integrations with new cloud or edge environments, and native compliance at enterprise scale, especially where sensitive customer or operational data is involved.
Speed to Value: Stress rapid deployment, low disruption, and measurable ROI—Walmart priorities include shortening cycles between pilot and scaled rollout, and reducing handholding requirements for internal tech teams.
Workforce Orchestration: Capabilities around associate upskilling, task optimization, real-time collaboration tools, and generative AI for internal development processes, all aligned with Walmart’s “people-led, tech-powered” culture.
Strategic messages that resonate:
“Accelerate Walmart’s adaptive retail vision: unifying data, agents, and automation for superior value delivery.”
“Embed automation and intelligence deeper into supply chain, inventory, or customer journey orchestration.”
“Decrease cost-to-serve and grow digital margins by integrating seamlessly with Walmart’s evolving tech stack.”
Tech executives under Kumar value partnerships that bring both innovative capabilities and proven reliability, driving transformative results without compromising scale, compliance, or customer trust.
Where can I find a deeper dive on Walmart to help with my account research & planning?
The Databahn deep dive Walmart Org Chart and Sales Intelligence Report is designed to eliminate costly research time and uncover new sales opportunities. The Databahn Report has comprehensive Org Charts, accurate Contact Info, Sales Playbook (value propositions, prospecting questions, cold emails that will resonate with Marriott executives), Business and Financial Insights, Industry Insights, Executive Profiles, Technology Insights, and dozens of Sales Trigger Events. Basically, everything you need to build a strategic account plan.
