Walmart Global Tech Appoints Balu Chaturvedula As Country Head For India

Retail giant Walmart’s technology arm Walmart Global Tech on Tuesday (July 4) said it has appointed Balu Chaturvedula as its country head for India. 

Chaturvedula will be responsible for managing Walmart Global Tech’s vision in India, fostering a culture of innovation, and supporting the delivery of seamless experiences for Walmart’s customers, members, and associates. 

“Chaturvedula’s extensive technical expertise and tenure as a Walmart leader will be of immense benefit to our efforts as a people-led, technology-powered omnichannel retailer.” Walmart’s Executive Vice President, Global CTO and Chief Development Officer Suresh Kumar, said.

Prior to this, Chaturvedula served as vice-president, supply chain technology at Walmart’s Omni Tech division in the US.

Chaturvedula succeeds Hari Vasudev, who will assume the position of executive vice-president, global tech platforms at Walmart. 

”These are interesting times, with emerging technologies and their potential to transform retail experiences and positively impact the lives of people. I am excited for the opportunity to further contribute to our growth,” said Chaturvedula.

During his tenure at Walmart, which began in 2015, Chaturvedula played a crucial role in developing fulfilment technology that prioritised delivering a flawless customer experience while reducing costs, Walmart said in a statement.

He has played a significant role in the development of supply chain talent in India, the company said. Prior to joining Walmart, Chaturvedula held positions at HP, Yahoo!, and Motorola.

Walmart Global Tech creates and implements new technological solutions to improve Walmart’s operations. It focuses on ecommerce, supply chain management, data analytics, AI, machine learning, and the consumer experience. 

In India, Walmart Global Tech has engineering and product development teams in Bengaluru, Chennai and Gurugram. Speaking about its India team last year, Walmart CEO and President Doug McMillon said it was playing an important role in driving innovation.

Walmart also owns Indian ecommerce behemoth Flipkart and fintech giant PhonePe. Earlier today, PhonePe announced that its shopping app for ONDC, Pincode, went live in 10 Indian cities. 

Besides, Walmart operates brick and mortar stores, called Flipkart Wholesale, through Walmart India. In FY22, Walmart India’s loss widened nearly 50% year-on-year to INR 299 Cr, while operating revenue grew 7% to INR 5,350 Cr.