Shopping has gotten progressively easier in recent years, a trend retail giant Walmart is continually working to advance. The company has made developments to not only its physical and online stores, but also to the solutions that power them. From AI-powered grocery substitutions for out-of-stock items to AR tech that tracks boxes in storerooms, Walmart Global Tech has introduced a plethora of solutions and is developing more.
Pouring its efforts into further innovating the retail space, Walmart Global Tech is staging a hiring spree in new markets and starting in the Peach State capital. The company aims to accelerate its digital capabilities by establishing new tech hubs in Atlanta and Toronto. In doing so, it’s creating 5,000 tech jobs to fill in 2022.
“Walmart Global Tech develops and manages the foundational technologies on which Walmart is built, including cloud, data, enterprise architecture, DevOps, infrastructure and security,” Nick Givens, Walmart Global Tech’s Atlanta office lead and VP of cybersecurity engineering, told Built In via email. “The team is also a world-class enterprise services organization that develops solutions for Walmart’s 2.3 million associates worldwide.”
One of the company’s latest solutions uses AI to enable online shoppers to virtually try on clothing. The Choose My Model feature lets customers select a model who best represents their height, body shape and skin tone so they can tell how an item will look on them in real life.
As it ramps up its hiring efforts, the company is keeping diversity front-of-mind. Walmart Global Tech prioritizes establishing connections with underrepresented groups such as women, people of color, military community members, formerly incarcerated individuals and return-to-work caregivers, according to the company.
“Increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace remains a top priority across Walmart. We believe in the importance of fresh and varied perspectives and equal opportunity for all,” Givens said. “This is a crucial part to our growth strategy as we specifically chose cities, like Atlanta, that have diverse tech talent pools. In Atlanta specifically, we plan to build on our strong partnerships with HBCUs and find ways to invest in the local tech community over time.”
Atlanta also stood out to the company due to its substantial presence within the cybersecurity industry. Walmart sought out the city’s growing strengths within software engineering, AI, machine learning and data science, in addition to the talent supplied by local colleges and universities.
With 17 tech hubs around the globe, Walmart currently employs 70,000 associates across the state of Georgia. Its first Atlanta hiring phase will include 140 full-time associate roles in areas like data scientists and software engineering. The company currently lists these available remote-first positions and will add more in the coming months. Eventually, the company plans to adopt a hybrid work model upon establishing a physical space.
“We are continuously innovating to help our customers save money and live better and help make our associates’ lives easier,” Givens said. “We’re working on leveraging emerging technologies like AI, AR and computer vision to lead the future of retail.”
