The phrase "chief AI officer" did not exist in the corporate lexicon until approximately fifteen minutes ago, but Target now has one, and his name is Chandhu Nair.
The retailer disclosed the appointment as part of a second-quarter earnings call in which profits more than doubled to $1.87 billion, a figure assisted considerably by nearly $1 billion in tariff refunds. Michael Fiddelke, Target's chief executive, used the occasion to discuss the company's enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, noting that digital traffic arriving from external AI platforms — a metric that would have drawn blank stares in most boardrooms two years ago — is growing more than three and a half times faster than the industry average.
Target was among the first retailers to establish partnerships with OpenAI, Google's Gemini, and other platforms now shaping what the industry has begun calling "agentic commerce," a term that sounds vaguely like a branch of philosophy but refers to AI systems that can act on behalf of shoppers. The company has deployed the technology for back-to-school season, rolling out AI-powered wish lists for teachers and college students.
Cara Sylvester, the chief merchandising officer, said wish list creation rose 50 percent from last year, with items added to those lists more than doubling. (Whether the lists are being curated by humans, algorithms, or some hybrid entity was not specified.)
The quarter's strength came from categories Target has labeled Fun101 — a merchandising initiative — along with food, beverage, and beauty. Executives raised their full-year sales outlook by a full percentage point, now expecting growth of around 5 percent.
Jim Lee, the chief financial officer, noted that the company continues to seek ways to reduce tariff exposure, including shifting countries of origin and "collaborating with vendors to find offsets," which is a polite way of describing negotiations that are probably less collaborative than the phrase suggests.
Target, it seems, is bullish on artificial intelligence, wish lists, and the enduring appeal of not paying tariffs.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Target's Profits Double as Roundel, Same-Day Delivery Power a Growth Streak"