Target names Chandhu Nair as its first chief AI officer

Target chief AI officer is now an official title at the retailer. Target said Aug. 11 that Chandhu Nair will join on Aug. 24 as senior vice president and its first chief AI officer. For investors watching whether Target can improve its shopping tools and internal operations, the appointment signals a stated push for a more coordinated approach to AI, though the company has not reported results tied to the new role.

Nair arrives from Lowe’s, where he was senior vice president of stores, data, AI and innovation, according to CNBC. CNBC also reported that he previously held roles at Staples and Gap.

Target said Nair will focus first on listening to its teams and seeing the business from the perspective of shoppers, employees and partners. In Target’s announcement, he said potential applications include spotting changes in shopper needs earlier, improving inventory management, reducing complexity in employees’ work and supporting faster, better-informed decisions.

Those are targets for the work, rather than confirmed improvements in Target’s sales, stock availability or customer experience. Nair said the company should apply AI in support of its broader priorities instead of treating it as a separate strategy.

What will Target’s chief AI officer do?

Target describes the job as bringing more focus and coordination to its AI work across the company. The retailer says the measure will be whether the technology helps its growth, shopper experience and employees’ ability to do their jobs, rather than the volume of AI it deploys.

The company paired Nair’s arrival with Purvi Shah’s move to senior vice president of user experience, or UX. UX concerns how people interact with a product or system. Target said human-centered design can help make AI-enabled systems understandable, useful and trustworthy for shoppers, employees and partners.

Target already has AI tools in use

The new position follows several disclosed uses of generative AI, a form of AI Target has applied to specific workflows. Its Target Trend Brain platform is in the initial stages of helping merchants develop product ideas and create collections faster, Retail Dive reported in October 2025. Prat Vemana, Target’s chief information and product officer at the time, told the publication that designers retained decision-making responsibility.

Target has also used agentic AI in Target Plus, its third-party marketplace. According to Retail Dive, the tools review seller applicants and bring together publicly available online information in summarized form for marketplace analysts. CNBC reported that Target also introduced a conversational AI program during the prior holiday season to help shoppers find gifts.

Retail peers are pursuing similar technology

Target’s announcement comes as other large retailers put AI into customer-facing tools and internal processes. CNBC reported that Walmart has rolled out AI tools and agents in stores and supply chains. Gap announced a partnership with Google’s Gemini, while Best Buy has collaborations with OpenAI and Google, CNBC said.

For Target, the immediate development is organizational: a senior executive dedicated to the company’s stated aim of applying its existing and future AI work more coherently alongside product design. The impact on operations or shoppers remains to be seen.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.