Flipkart accelerates AI push across business as it shifts to execution

E-commerce company moves to operationalise AI use cases at scale under senior leadership

Flipkart is accelerating its push to embed artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations, moving from strategy to execution as it scales deployment across the business.

 

Chief Executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the Walmart-owned e-commerce company is entering a phase where AI is no longer experimental, but central to how it builds products, serves customers, and improves internal efficiency. “As I have been emphasising, the landscape of our industry is evolving rapidly. To lead in the next decade, we need to build on AI,” he wrote in an internal note to employees, reviewed by Business Standard.

 

The company has appointed Hemant Badri to lead what it calls a critical “AI Transformation Charter”, expanding his remit beyond his existing responsibilities across supply chain, quick-commerce unit Minutes, customer experience, and recommerce.

 

 

The move signals Flipkart’s intent to turn AI strategy into operational outcomes by putting a senior, execution-focused leader in charge of implementation. Badri will be responsible for identifying and scaling high-impact use cases, marking a shift from broad strategic direction to measurable deployment.

 

Krishnamurthy positioned the transition as foundational to Flipkart’s next phase of growth.

 

“What being AI-first means for us at Flipkart is that intelligent systems should sit at the core of what we build,” he said, adding that the approach would enable “a more intuitive customer experience, seller tools that drive growth more efficiently, and internal productivity where AI handles routine tasks so teams can focus on innovation.”

 

The emphasis on productivity gains and automation reflects a broader industry trend, as companies increasingly deploy AI not just in customer-facing applications, but also to streamline back-end operations and cut costs.

 

At the same time, the company is signalling caution against over-automation. “Technology cannot replace the intuition we have built over the years. It will sharpen it. It is about keeping a ‘human-in-the-loop’ approach, so our technology remains grounded in the needs of our customers and sellers,” Krishnamurthy said.

 

The initiative will require coordination across teams, marking what the CEO described as “a broader organisational shift”. The mandate underscores the growing importance of cross-functional alignment in AI adoption, particularly in large and complex organisations such as Flipkart.

 

Badri will work alongside Balaji Thiagarajan, who will continue to oversee technology strategy and engineering under the company’s OneTech organisation. The arrangement suggests a dual-track approach — combining strategic oversight with operational execution — to accelerate AI integration.

 

“Hemant will focus on identifying and operationalising the business use cases where AI can drive the most impact,” Krishnamurthy said.

 

Flipkart’s move comes as competition intensifies in India’s e-commerce sector, with rivals investing heavily in AI-led personalisation, logistics optimisation, and seller tools. By anchoring its AI push in operational leadership, the company appears to be prioritising speed and scale of deployment over experimentation.

 

The strategy reflects a broader shift across the technology industry, where the challenge is no longer access to AI capabilities, but the ability to embed them effectively into core business processes.

 

“AI is emerging as a force multiplier across the entire retail stack. From consumer-facing shopping experiences to driving meaningful back-end efficiency, AI is set to unlock retail profitability,” said a recent Google-Deloitte report.

 

India’s digital commerce ecosystem is at an inflection point. The market is projected to grow from $90 billion to $250 billion by 2030, driven not just by more shoppers coming online, but by a fundamental shift in how they discover, evaluate, and buy. The linear shopping funnel is being replaced by an always-on cycle of discovery and instant gratification, according to the Google-Deloitte report.

 

A younger, digital-native generation is leading this shift, with more than 220 million GenZ shoppers expected to account for nearly 45 per cent of total online spend. Businesses looking to stay competitive will need to move beyond traditional models.

 

Flipkart is also rebuilding its technology infrastructure from the ground up, unifying engineering, product, and data functions under an internal initiative called “OneTech” as it races to modernise its platform ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) as early as next year.

 

At the centre of the overhaul is a shift to AI-first architecture, replacing legacy systems with large language models and agentic frameworks while keeping the business running at full scale. Balaji Thiagarajan, Flipkart’s chief product and technology officer, likened the challenge to “changing the engines of a flying plane”.

 

A former Google executive with stints at Microsoft, Uber, and Yahoo, Thiagarajan was appointed to the role in September. He succeeded Jeyandran Venugopal, who stepped down in February 2025.

 

The transformation spans customer experience, supply chain operations, and IPO readiness, with Flipkart tightening governance around data security, compliance, and fraud detection to meet the heightened scrutiny of public markets.