Retail tech veteran Suresh Kumar joins Walmart

Walmart has appointed Suresh Kumar, a former Amazon and Google executive, to a new Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer role.

“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,” says Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon. “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.”

“Walmart is one of the great success stories in how a company evolves over time to serve the changing needs of its customers, and today, it is in the midst of a very exciting digital transformation,” says Kumar. “With more than 11,000 stores, a high-growth e-commerce 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.”

Kumar was most recently at Google, serving as Vice President and General Manager of Display, Video, App Ads and Analytics. Prior to that, he was the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and operations. He spent 15 years at Amazon in various leadership roles, including VP of Technology for Retail Systems and Operations, and he led the company’s retail supply chain and inventory management systems.