Walmart has hired Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president of AI acceleration, product and design, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon announced on LinkedIn Wednesday.
Danker, who most recently served as chief product officer at Instacart, will “accelerate [Walmart’s] AI transformation and lead all product management and design across the enterprise,” McMillon wrote.
With Danker’s hiring, Walmart has landed a top executive from a technology company that has made significant strides in incorporating artificial intelligence into its shopping experience as the mass retailer dials up its own AI efforts.
“We’re on the eve of another transformation as AI enables us to reinvent commerce and serve customers and communities in entirely new ways,” Danker said about Walmart in a LinkedIn post.
Danker spent just over four years at Instacart, during which the company launched a bevy of consumer experience innovations, including allowing third parties to integrate the functionality of Instacart inside their websites and apps, expanding the types of delivery offered and launching Instacart+.
“I joined in the middle of a global crisis, when Instacart became essential to families and retailers overnight,” Danker wrote. “What followed was an incredible transformation: from grocery delivery to a full platform serving retailers, brands, and customers across every part of the food journey.”
McMillon also announced Walmart is creating a new role, executive vice president of AI platforms, that will help “build the future with AI” at the company. The role will report to Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s global chief technology officer and chief development officer.
Danker’s exit from Instacart marks the latest C-suite change for the grocery technology company this year. In May, Instacart promoted Chris Rogers, who had served as its chief business officer, to CEO after Fidji Simo stepped down from the top position to become CEO of OpenAI Applications. In March, the company appointed Lisa Blackwood-Kapral as its chief accounting officer and principal accounting officer.
Prior to joining Instacart in 2021, Danker was head of product at Uber Eats, where he helped expand Uber’s delivery business into groceries in 2020. Danker also held product roles at Facebook and Shazam.
Danker’s jump to Walmart is happening as the retailer rolls out a variety of AI-powered tools for workers and consumers. Earlier this year, Walmart announced Wally, an AI tool for merchants, and Sparky, a generative AI assistant for consumers. The retailer also has several partnerships with makers of AI solutions that span price forecasting to crop monitoring.
Danker will report to McMillon, The Wall Street Journal reported.
