Forty-three years ago, Darlene Lane began her career at Walmart, working in the billing department of a regional distribution center. Now the company’s learning and development manager, Lane was the guinea pig for how to train employees at all levels within the company on AI.
Walmart launched an OpenAI employee certification program last week, after launching a similar certification program with Google earlier this year. Lane was the first person to complete the new OpenAI certificate. She said she has since used AI as a “thinking partner” and is looking for ideas for activities that could be included as part of a training program, for example.
“I’m probably the least technical person you’ll ever meet,” Lane told reporters as part of a presentation near Wal-Mart’s Bentonville headquarters in Springdale, Ark., during Associates Week. “When we introduced AI, we were very hesitant at first because it was a new technology and we were scared to use it,” Lane added. “It was easy to go through and it was easy for me to understand. And if I can understand it and understand it, 99.9% of people out there will understand it.”
Through partnerships with OpenAI and Google, Walmart executives are training employees to use AI broadly across the organization. For example, store managers can create digital dashboards for scheduling, and merchandising professionals can turn dense text into useful graphics, said Daniel Danker, Walmart’s executive vice president of AI acceleration, products and design, in a LinkedIn post. Still, the company is cutting back on redundant use cases due to cost.
“We are watching [AI] “This is a tool that really removes friction and helps employees learn faster and make better decisions,” said Lorraine Stomski, chief people officer at Walmart. It helps you actually interact with your customers and members. It helps increase their curiosity, compassion, and daily thinking. So we actually think AI is a really great tool to help remove that friction. ”
For example, AI agents in fresh produce departments and bakeries are being used to train employees how to handle fresh produce and decorate cakes. This app was actually designed by an employee. The app can help relay feedback about how an employee’s cake decoration looks from a photo, for example, using context directly from Walmart’s internal guidance.. “This really helps drive stronger safety and more consistent coaching, better coaching and faster skill development at scale,” Stomski said.
AI can also help store and supply chain employees build tools to identify problems and take action, Stomski said, adding, “Our employees have the best ideas.” She gave the example of a logistics manager in the transportation department who earned Walmart’s Google AI certification and created an app to help drivers identify the best available loads to get home on time near weekends.
“Empty miles are reduced, which saves the company money and helps sustain Walmart’s commitment to bringing drivers home,” Stomski said. “This is a great example of what is possible when you give your employees the tools and confidence they need to apply greater and new skills in real time.”
Josh Allen, Walmart’s learning strategy group director, said the new OpenAI certification program focuses on AI fluency, responsible use and human judgment, but is customized based on employees’ different job responsibilities and goals.
“For employees who are new to AI, that might mean building basic confidence. For store or club leaders, it might mean understanding how AI can help with coaching, communication, planning, and thematic summarization,” Allen said. “For those in operations, merchandising, or support, that might mean learning how to analyze information, remove friction, or better prepare for next steps.”
The OpenAI training program asks employees about their personal goals and explains how ChatGPT can help them build a plan, create an agenda, tailor messages, organize ideas, draft communications, and more.
Allen said that while not all employees will use AI in the same way, all employees need access to a common foundation on how to use AI tools effectively, how to evaluate the outputs they produce, how to understand their limitations, and how to center human judgment.
“AI upskilling isn’t about replacing people’s judgment; it’s about helping employees build the skills and confidence to use new tools responsibly, perform, and grow,” Allen said. “For Walmart, this opportunity is not just about training employees in AI; it’s about building learning models that feel relevant to each employee and scale across a large workforce.”
