Hemant Badri to lead Flipkart's AI push as CEO outlines next-decade vision

Badri will focus on identifying and operationalising the business use cases where Al can drive the most impact

Hemant Badri will lead Flipkart's artificial intelligence transformation charter, as the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant intensifies its push as an 'AI-first' organization, CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has said in an internal e-mail.

Badri - who is SVP and Head of Supply Chain, Customer Experience & Re-Commerce at Flipkart - will focus on identifying and operationalising the business use cases where Al can drive the most impact, working in partnership with Balaji Thiagarajan, who will continue to provide strategic direction for the One Tech org and lead the technology strategy and engineering efforts for an Al-native Flipkart.

Krishnamurthy's note to employees, seen by PTI, emphasised the need to build on AI to "lead in next decade" as the industry landscape evolves rapidly.

 

An e-mailed query to Flipkart for comments did not elicit a response.

In his communication to staff, Krishnamurthy said: "To drive this with speed and scale, I am pleased to share that Hemant Badri will lead this critical 'Al Transformation Charter'. This is in addition to his current responsibilities in Supply Chain, Minutes, CX, and Recommerce".

AI-first at Flipkart means that intelligent systems should sit at the core of what is built, he elaborated.

"It means a more intuitive customer experience, seller tools that drive growth more efficiently, and internal productivity where Al handles routine tasks so teams can focus on innovation," he said.

At the same time, technology cannot replace the intuition that has been built over the years, he said advocating human-in-the-loop approach.

"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.

Labelling it a broader organisational shift, he emphasised it will require ownership across functions and teams.

"Hemant brings the operational depth required to make AI a reality across the organisation. He will focus on identifying and operationalising the business use cases where Al can drive the most impact, while working in partnership with Balaji Thiagarajan," the Flipkart top boss said.