By the fiscal first quarter of 2024, digital comparable sales were on the upswing and have increased for seven consecutive quarters, including a 2.4% gain for the fiscal third-quarter results that were reported last week.
With wind behind his sails, Vemana’s responsibilities have also expanded to include CIO duties following the retirement of Brett Craig earlier this year. Vemana now oversees enterprise product technologies, engineering, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
Internal applications of AI include ChatGPT Enterprise, which has been rolled out to about 18,000 employees who are using the tool to ask questions, upload spreadsheets, and for summarization. Last week, OpenAI’s team visited Target’s corporate office, where 4,300 employees participated in ChatGPT-focused training sessions. Vemana says that 92% were satisfied with the experience.
In its stores, Target has rolled out a generative AI chatbot called Store Companion, which can help answer questions to make store operations run smoother or address a shopper’s questions. Vemana says he’s continuing to field input from associates to make improvements to Store Companion.
“Ultimately, we want to make sure that their experience in store is fully assisted with tech so that they can focus on the guest,” he says.
Target has already deployed several agentic AI use cases, with early areas of focus on handling customer service requests and improving IT workflows. Vemana is also rolling out a data science-led inventory management system that triangulates the complexity of a network of 2,000 Target stores with hundreds of thousands of products to more precisely match inventory levels with anticipated demand.
“The models are evolving and learning,” says Vemana, noting that the early focus on this project are “frequency items” like cereal or a pack of underwear.
Target told investors this month that it would increase capital expenditures for the next fiscal year by an additional $1 billion, bringing the planned spending to about $5 billion on new store openings, remodels, and technology advancements. Tech’s core focus areas will be on supporting merchandising, supply chain, and store operations, though Vemana says he will share more details about his spending priorities in March 2026.
But he vows that technology will play a critical role in lifting Target’s overall sales.
“Not a single minute goes by without me thinking about growth,” says Vemana.
John Kell
