Walmart taps Shishir Mehrotra for board role as AI bets deepen

Bentonville: Walmart has added fresh Silicon Valley heft to its boardroom, appointing Shishir Mehrotra, chief executive officer of Superhuman, as a director with immediate effect, as the world’s largest retailer sharpens its focus on technology and e-commerce.

Mehrotra will serve on Walmart’s compensation and management development committee and its technology and e-commerce committee, placing him at the heart of decisions shaping talent, platforms and the company’s digital future.

“Shishir brings a rare combination of technical depth and product leadership,” said Greg Penner, chairman of Walmart’s board. “He has helped create and scale platforms that unlock creativity and productivity at global scale.”

For Mehrotra, the timing is deliberate. “This is the most significant technological shift I’ve seen in my career,” he said, pointing to Walmart’s push towards an agentic AI future and its ability to innovate while staying anchored to core values.

A technology veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Mehrotra is best known for building category-defining platforms. Before leading Superhuman, formerly Grammarly, he was chief executive officer and co-founder of Coda, an AI-led productivity platform. Earlier, he served as chief product officer and chief technology officer at YouTube, helping scale it into the world’s largest video destination and one of Google’s fastest-growing businesses.

Mehrotra holds a dual bachelor of science degree in mathematics and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The appointment comes as Walmart’s digital engine continues to fire, with its advertising business surging 53 per cent and e-commerce growth crossing 20 per cent for the seventh straight quarter.

As Walmart doubles down on technology, data and AI-led commerce, Mehrotra’s arrival signals a clear intent. This is not just about retail scale any more. It is about building the future of platforms, at speed.