Verified
Kroger
Piloting- Retail
- 403,000+ employees
- No AI return reported
- Sage: up to 150,000 associates (Jan 2026)
- First AI chief named Mar 2026
Kroger deploys AI through 84.51°, its data science subsidiary, whose president Milen Mahadevan became Kroger's first Chief Data and AI Officer in Mar 2026, and through assistants for staff and shoppers: Sage, actively used by up to 150,000 associates, and an AI Shopping Assistant on every banner. Kroger pairs its own models with third-party models such as Google's Gemini and has reported no business return it credits to AI; its target of about $4 billion of annual savings by 2029 mixes AI with sourcing and procurement.
thekrogerco.comTheir approach to AI
- The platform
- Kroger built an AI gateway above its data and data science that runs its own models alongside outside companies' technology across customer and employee applications (Sep 2026). Kroger's assistants include Sage for associates and an AI Shopping Assistant for customers.
- The models
- Kroger combines proprietary models for demand forecasting, operations, personalization and generative AI with third-party frontier models. Kroger named Google's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience in Jan 2026, and its CIO said in May 2026 that Kroger writes and tests code with Anthropic's Claude.
- The reach
- Up to 150,000 Kroger associates actively used Sage in Jan 2026, out of more than 403,000 employees, and Kroger said in Sep 2026 it is making AI literacy training and tools available to more than 400,000 associates.
- The catch
- Kroger has reported no business return it credits to AI: CFO David Kennerley called the work early-stage in Mar 2026, and the $4 billion savings target mixes AI with direct sourcing, procurement and moving work to India.
Snapshot
- Employees
- 403,000+
- Jan 31, 2026; more than two-thirds covered by union contracts
- Technology budget
- Not disclosed
- Capital investments of $3.9B in 2025; $3.8B to $4.0B planned for 2026, with more technology spending
- AI/ML headcount
- Not disclosed
- Data science sits mainly in 84.51°, which listed applied AI and AI platform product roles in Nov 2026
- Platform
- AI gateway, built in-house
- Above Kroger's data and data science; runs its own and outside models for customer and employee apps (Sep 2026)
- Models
- Proprietary and third-party
- Google Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience named Jan 2026; Anthropic's Claude for coding, per the CIO (May 2026)
- Reach
- Up to 150,000 Sage users
- Jan 2026; AI literacy training offered to 400,000+ associates (Sep 2026)
- Use cases
- No firmwide count
- Sage alone had 95+ use cases in Jan 2026
Key findings
Kroger created its first Chief Data and AI Officer role in Mar 2026 and gave it to Milen Mahadevan, president of its 84.51° data science subsidiary since Jul 2020, with all of Kroger's data and AI teams placed under him.
Sage, Kroger's AI assistant for associates, went from 30 use cases about five months after development began in early 2024 to more than 95, and was actively used by up to 150,000 associates in Jan 2026.
Kroger expanded its Google Cloud relationship in Jan 2026 to use Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience for a shopping assistant and Customer Experience Agent Studio for calls to stores, and its AI Shopping Assistant ran on 100% of Kroger banners by Oct 2026.
At its Oct 20, 2026 Investor Update, Kroger targeted about $4 billion of annual structural cost savings by 2029 that it says technology and AI enable, set a separate target of about $500 million of savings by 2029 from a waste reduction plan that pairs RFID and other store signals with an AI tool, and said its Kroger Capability Center, with a new office in Bengaluru, would affect about 3,000 corporate roles over time. Kroger's savings figures are targets, not reported results.
CFO David Kennerley said on Mar 5, 2026 that Kroger is at the early stages of AI, pointing to shrink results driven partly by technology and AI and to labor scheduling tools, and Kroger has reported no business return it credits to AI, for any use case or for the company as a whole.
Where Kroger sits
- Stage
- Piloting
Kroger has reported no business return it credits to AI, for any use case or for the company as a whole: the about $4 billion of annual cost savings it targets by 2029 is a target that it says technology and AI enable, mixed with direct sourcing, procurement and the Kroger Capability Center; the about $500 million of waste savings by 2029 is a target for a plan that pairs RFID and other store technology with an AI tool; the 11% higher spend by repeat users of its AI Shopping Assistant is an engagement measure; and CFO David Kennerley called Kroger's AI work early-stage on Mar 5, 2026, citing shrink results driven partly by technology and AI without a figure. Kroger has reported a rollout with a user count: Karl Niemann, a Kroger vice president of human resources, said at NRF in Jan 2026 that Sage, its AI assistant for associates, is actively used by up to 150,000 associates, and Chief Data and AI Officer Milen Mahadevan has led AI work across Kroger since Mar 2026. That places Kroger at Piloting; AI-credited returns in two or more functions, or a firm-level figure Kroger credits to AI, would move it to Scaling.
How the stages are defined - Ownership
- Chief Data and AI Officer Milen Mahadevan, also president of 84.51°
- Platform
- Hybrid: AI gateway and 84.51° models built; Google Cloud tools bought
- Models
- Proprietary plus third-party models; Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude named
- Hosting
- Google Cloud for the Gemini tools; 84.51° runs Databricks on Microsoft Azure; other hosting not disclosed
- Reach
- Up to 150,000 associates on Sage (Jan 2026)
How they deploy
Data science first
Kroger builds its AI on 84.51°, the data science unit that began as dunnhumby USA and became a wholly owned Kroger subsidiary in 2015, and on loyalty data: more than 95% of customer transactions are tied to a Kroger loyalty card, across about 63 million households a year (FY2025 Form 10-K). Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that Kroger has long used data science and AI to forecast demand, match customers with savings and help them find products.
Proprietary models, outside frontier models
Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that Kroger builds proprietary models on its proprietary data while partnering with providers of frontier models, and Kroger described shared infrastructure for data, services, agents and governance guardrails so it can orchestrate agents across workflows. Cosset said Kroger is not in the business of choosing the winning model, will not commit to one model or platform, and wants control of the data under its AI with the flexibility to switch partners.
Assisted, augmented, autonomous
Yael Cosset described Kroger's AI in three stages, assisted, augmented and autonomous, and said in Sep 2026 that the goal is not autonomy everywhere but the right level of AI for each task's risk, repeatability and need for human judgment. Cosset also said Kroger should not chase automatic refills and recurring orders, because families stay emotionally attached to planning their meals.
Cost savings to fund lower prices
Greg Foran, CEO since Feb 2026, set a plan in Oct 2026 for a self-funded $5 billion investment in customer value, paid for by fewer, simpler promotions and about $4 billion of annual structural cost savings by 2029, which Kroger's presentation says technology and AI enable. Foran wrote in the May 2026 proxy statement that technology including AI underpins the plan and that technology will not replace good operators but make them better.
Scale what proves out
Mark Ibbotson said in Oct 2026 that Kroger scales a store technology only when it adds precision, returns time to associates and improves the customer experience. Kroger learned that lesson from automation: it closed three robotic fulfillment centers developed with Ocado in Jan 2026 and recorded $2.5 billion of impairment and related charges in 2025 after the network missed its targets, and now favors store-based fulfillment and capital-light store automation.
- Deployment model
- Kroger runs AI through a central data and AI organization and the business functions that use it. Milen Mahadevan, Chief Data and AI Officer since Mar 2026, holds all of Kroger's data and AI teams and still runs 84.51°, where SVP Kristin Foster leads an enterprise AI program that builds reusable tools, services and patterns. Mahadevan reports to Yael Cosset, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, who reports to the CEO and oversees technology, data, AI and digitization. At the Oct 2026 Investor Update, Kroger's business leaders presented the AI in their own areas: Nate Faust the shopping assistant under eCommerce and Mark Ibbotson the connected store's in-stock agent and waste tool under store operations. Kroger adds partner tools from Google Cloud and Instacart.
- Model providers
- Kroger says it combines a portfolio of proprietary models, covering demand forecasting, operational optimization, personalization and generative AI, with third-party frontier models (Sep 2026). Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that Kroger's AI gateway sits above its data and data science, lets Kroger run its own models alongside outside companies' technology and processes several trillion tokens a year across customer and employee applications, and that associates have access to multiple AI models and tools. Of outside providers, Google Cloud supplies Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience for a meal and shopping assistant and Customer Experience Agent Studio to analyze customer calls to stores, both announced on Jan 11, 2026. Anthropic's Claude writes and tests code: CIO Jim Clendenen told an Extreme Networks conference in May 2026 that Kroger uses Claude for code writing and quality assurance, according to Fierce Network. Todd James, former chief data and technology officer of 84.51°, said in Apr 2025 that 84.51° built a switchboard that steers data scientists, business teams and vendors to approved large language models by performance and cost; Kroger has not named those models. Kroger also agreed in Nov 2025 to offer Instacart's Cart Assistant on its iOS app.
- Data and infrastructure
- Kroger ties more than 95% of customer transactions to a loyalty card and serves about 63 million households a year (FY2025 Form 10-K); Nate Faust cited 65 million first-party data households in Oct 2026 and 84.51° cites more than 62 million, figures that count different things. 84.51° runs its data science on Databricks, which a Databricks case study lists on Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud hosts the Gemini tools. Kroger's waste tool connects about 20 data pipelines from enterprise to store item level, and the connected store adds signals from about 900 store robots, RFID in about 1,500 store bakeries and digital shelf labels in about 1,100 stores (Oct 2026). Kroger is also replacing mainframe, middleware and legacy systems in a multi-year technology transformation (FY2025 Form 10-K), and has not disclosed where most of its models run.
Platforms and internal tools
Kroger AI gatewayBy Sep 2026
Kroger's AI gateway sits above its data assets and data science and lets Kroger run its own models alongside technology from outside companies across customer-facing and employee applications. Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that the gateway processes several trillion tokens a year and that associates have access to multiple AI models and tools through it.
- Users
- Customer and employee applications (Sep 2026)
- Models
- Kroger's own models and third-party models
SageDeveloped from early 2024
Sage is Kroger's AI virtual assistant for associates: one mobile access point to check shift schedules, request time off, set availability, view pay stubs and ask about policies and training, while store leaders see real-time labor data, shift changes and pending approvals. IBM's lead client partner for Kroger said in Jan 2026 that Sage combines conversational, generative and agentic AI.
- Users
- Up to 150,000 active associates (Jan 2026)
Kroger AI Shopping AssistantJul 2026
Kroger's AI Shopping Assistant plans meals for the week, finds recipes and builds a cart around budget and dietary needs, and turns a photo of a written list or recipe card, or a pasted URL, into a cart. Kroger had its own assistant live in a couple of divisions in Mar 2026, released it across the Kroger Family of Companies websites and apps on Jul 28, 2026, and had it on 100% of banners by Oct 2026.
- Users
- Available on every Kroger banner (Oct 2026)
- Models
- Not stated; Kroger announced Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience for a shopping assistant in Jan 2026
84.51° enterprise AI programBy Apr 2025
84.51° runs an enterprise AI program, led by SVP Kristin Foster, that builds reusable tools, services and patterns to make AI safer, faster and cheaper across Kroger. Todd James said in Apr 2025 that 84.51° had rolled out the first version of a Kroger-wide AI factory platform, built so a solution made for one part of Kroger can be reused elsewhere, with a switchboard of approved large language models.
84.51° Stratum and Kroger Ad Platform
84.51° Stratum, an insights product for brands, and the Kroger Ad Platform behind Kroger Precision Marketing, Kroger's retail media business, carry AI and data science built by 84.51°'s product, engineering and data science teams under SVP Nick Hamilton. Kroger Precision Marketing launched Agent Monday on Nov 10, 2025: a weekly AI-generated insights email for qualifying Stratum subscribers, checked by further AI evaluations to catch errors.
Connected store in-stock agent and waste toolBy Oct 2026
Kroger's connected store combines digital shelf labels, about 900 robots and RFID with AI: a specialized in-stock agent pulls data across functions to find the root cause of an out of stock, and an AI waste tool connects about 20 data pipelines to flag sell-through, no-sales, out of stocks, over-delivery and margin risk and route them to merchants, field teams or stores (Oct 2026).
Customer Experience Agent Studio for store callsAnnounced Jan 2026
Kroger said in Jan 2026 it would use Google Cloud's Customer Experience Agent Studio to analyze the interactions and intent on customer calls to stores, so it can find and resolve issues earlier and raise associate productivity.
- Models
- Google Cloud
Vendors and partners
Google CloudExpanded Jan 2026
Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience for a shopping assistant; Customer Experience Agent Studio for store calls · Kroger called the Jan 11, 2026 announcement an expanded relationship with Google Cloud, with Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience to roll out nationwide.
AnthropicBy May 2026
Claude for code writing and quality assurance · Fierce Network reported CIO Jim Clendenen's remarks at Extreme Networks' May 2026 customer conference; Kroger has not announced the relationship or its scope.
IBM
Consulting partner on Sage · IBM Consulting moderated and joined Kroger's Jan 2026 NRF panel on Sage, where IBM's lead client partner for Kroger described Sage's design; Kroger has not published the scope of IBM's work.
Instacart2017
Primary delivery fulfillment provider; Cart Assistant AI on the Kroger iOS app · Kroger said in Nov 2025 that it would be one of the first retailers to offer Instacart's Cart Assistant, an agentic basket-building tool, on its iOS app.
Databricks
Data science platform at 84.51° · A Databricks case study says 84.51° teams, including price and promotions, moved analytics from on-premises, legacy warehouse and Hadoop systems to Databricks.
Microsoft Azure
Cloud under 84.51°'s Databricks platform · The Databricks case study lists Azure as the cloud for 84.51°; Kroger has not published its wider cloud mix.
Vidmob and MMA GlobalOct 2026
Predictive creative scoring study for retail media · A study with Kroger campaign data found predictive creative scoring forecast e-commerce conversion with 81% accuracy across more than 1,900 ads on Meta and Google's DV360.
Leadership
AI, data and platform leaders
Executives
Board
AI org map
Central data and AI organization built on the 84.51° subsidiary, inside technology and digital; use cases run by business functions
Kroger's CEO Greg Foran has Yael Cosset, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, reporting to him with responsibility for technology, digital and cybersecurity, plus 84.51° and Kroger Personal Finance. Milen Mahadevan became Chief Data and AI Officer in Mar 2026 with all data and AI teams under him and reports to Cosset, according to Retail Brew (Oct 2026); 84.51° describes him as leader of the data and AI platform team for Kroger Technology + Digital. Business leaders hired in 2026, Nate Faust for eCommerce and Mark Ibbotson for store operations, present the AI in their areas.
Kroger has not disclosed how many people work on data and AI. Most of its data science sits in 84.51°, whose leaders include Milen Mahadevan, Kristin Foster and Nick Hamilton, and whose job postings on Nov 1, 2026 included a director of product management for an AI platform at Kroger Precision Marketing and lead product managers for applied AI and for AI platforms. Kroger's Technology and Digital organization sits under Yael Cosset. Kroger laid off staff at 84.51° in Mar 2025 and in Technology and Digital in Aug 2025, according to Grocery Dive.
Reporting lines
Chief Executive Officer
Greg Foran
Technology + Digital
Yael Cosset, EVP and Chief Digital Officer
Leads technology, digital and cybersecurity strategy; also responsible for 84.51° and Kroger Personal Finance (FY2025 Form 10-K)
Chief Data and AI Officer and 84.51°
All data and AI teams since Mar 2026; reports to Yael Cosset (Retail Brew, Oct 2026)
84.51° Science and Technology
Nick Hamilton, SVP
Merchandising and Marketing
Mary Ellen Adcock, EVP and Chief Merchant and Marketing Officer
Category planning, analytics and execution, and digital merchandising; line to the CEO inferred, not published
eCommerce
Nate Faust, EVP and Chief eCommerce Officer
New role from Sep 2026; line to the CEO inferred, not published
Store Operations
Mark Ibbotson, EVP and Chief Store Operations Officer
Connected store program; line to the CEO inferred, not published
Kroger Capability Center
Above-store shared services opening an office in Bengaluru; current leader and reporting line not published
Kroger's FY2025 Form 10-K says the Chief Digital Officer reports to the CEO and that Yael Cosset is responsible for 84.51°, and Retail Brew reported in Oct 2026 that Milen Mahadevan reports to Cosset. Kroger has not published how the Chief Data and AI Officer's remit divides from Cosset's, or who leads the Kroger Capability Center after its global vice president left in May 2026, according to Grocery Dive.
Named people
Use cases
Kroger runs AI in demand forecasting, pricing and promotions, personalization, retail media, store operations, fulfillment and associate self-service, mostly built by its 84.51° subsidiary, and added customer-facing agents in 2026. Kroger has not reported a business return credited to AI for any single use case; its published figures are targets, such as about $500 million of waste savings by 2029 from a waste reduction plan that pairs RFID, robots and shelf data with an AI tool. At the firm level, Kroger says technology and AI enable a target of about $4 billion of annual structural cost savings by 2029 but has not separated AI's share.
| Use case | Area | Status | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waste and shrink reduction Kroger's AI waste tool combines RFID, sales, inventory and sell-through data across about 20 data pipelines, flags risks from enterprise down to store item level and routes them to merchants, field teams or stores. Kroger targets about $500 million of savings by 2029 from the broader waste reduction plan the tool supports (Oct 2026), and David Kennerley said in Mar 2026 that some of Kroger's shrink results come from technology and AI. | Stores and fresh | In production | |
| In-stock agent and shelf robots About 900 Kroger store robots check out of stocks, promotional displays, prices, top stock and truck completion, and a specialized in-stock agent pulls data across functions to find the root cause of each out of stock; Kroger shares its computer vision data with suppliers. | Stores and fresh | In production | |
| AI Shopping Assistant The Kroger AI Shopping Assistant plans meals, builds carts around budget and dietary needs and turns a photo of a list or a recipe URL into a cart on every Kroger banner. Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that users build larger baskets, and Nate Faust said in Oct 2026 that repeat users spend 11% more, driven by more frequent trips, a result Kroger's presentation labels engagement. | eCommerce | In production | |
| Instacart Cart Assistant Kroger agreed to be one of the first retailers to offer Instacart's Cart Assistant, which builds baskets through conversation, on the Kroger iOS app. | eCommerce | Announced | |
| Pickup order routing Kroger used routing algorithms, process changes and training to cut the distance associates walk to pick a pickup order by about 10% across its stores, which Todd James said helped bring pickup lead times under two hours (Apr 2025); Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that Kroger also uses AI to group orders picked in stores. | eCommerce | In production | |
| Store call analysis Kroger plans to use Google Cloud's Customer Experience Agent Studio to analyze the intent behind customer calls to stores and resolve issues earlier. | Customer service | Announced | |
| Sage associate assistant Sage gives Kroger associates one AI assistant for schedules, time off, availability, pay stubs and questions about policy and training, and gives store leaders real-time labor data; Sage had more than 95 use cases in Jan 2026. | Associates | In production | |
| Labor management and scheduling David Kennerley said in Mar 2026 that Kroger's people tools improve the employee experience and help it manage and schedule labor better. | Associates | In production | |
| Pricing and promotions 84.51°'s price and promotions team advises Kroger on which products to promote across categories and regions, and Ron Sargent said in Sep 2025 that AI had produced more competitive pricing where Kroger had deployed it. | Merchandising | In production | |
| Demand forecasting and fresh flow Kroger uses AI for replenishment and demand forecasting across trillions of forecasting dimensions, Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026, and Greg Foran cited a live program that moves fresh products through the supply chain faster and at lower cost (May 2026). | Supply chain | In production | |
| Personalized offers Kroger and 84.51° use loyalty data and AI to connect customers with the most relevant savings and personalize offers, part of Kroger's personalization strategy for more than 20 years. | Marketing | In production | |
| Kroger Precision Marketing ad products 84.51° builds AI into 84.51° Stratum and the Kroger Ad Platform used by Kroger Precision Marketing to target and measure advertising against loyalty purchase data. | Retail media | In production | |
| Predictive creative scoring A study by Kroger, Vidmob and MMA Global used AI on more than 1,900 Kroger campaign assets and found predictive creative scoring forecast e-commerce conversion with 81% accuracy before media ran (Oct 2026). | Retail media | Pilot | |
| Indirect spend visibility David Kennerley said in Oct 2026 that Kroger uses technology and AI to see what it spends on goods not for resale and what drives each spending decision, as part of its indirect spending savings. | Procurement | In production | |
| Kroger Capability Center The Kroger Capability Center moves repeatable above-store work into a shared service model, including a new office in Bengaluru with Kroger and outside staff, then redesigns it with AI and machine learning; Kroger expects it to affect roughly 3,000 associates. | Corporate operations | Announced |
Adoption
Kroger spread AI in layers: data science through 84.51° for more than 20 years in pricing, promotions, forecasting and personalization; an AI factory platform and a switchboard of approved large language models at 84.51° by early 2025; Sage for associates from 2024, actively used by up to 150,000 associates in Jan 2026; and customer agents in 2026, with the AI Shopping Assistant live in a couple of divisions in Mar 2026, across Kroger's websites and apps in Jul 2026 and on every banner by Oct 2026. Kroger said in Sep 2026 that it is making AI literacy training and tools available to more than 400,000 associates, and Yael Cosset said associates have access to multiple AI models and tools, with training through a program he called an AI driver's license. Cosset said in Oct 2026 that Kroger's AI capabilities are a step ahead of how far associates have adopted them. Kroger has not reported weekly or daily AI users across the workforce.
By the numbers
Rollout, first pilot to today
2015
dunnhumby USA became 84.51°, a wholly owned Kroger subsidiary focused on embedding data science in Kroger's businesses.
Early 2024
Kroger began developing Sage, its AI assistant for associates, which handled 30 basic use cases about five months later.
Apr 2025
Todd James said 84.51° had rolled out the first version of a Kroger-wide AI factory platform with a switchboard of approved large language models before he left to start a consultancy.
Sep 2025
Ron Sargent said Kroger was accelerating its AI efforts and seeing results in more competitive pricing, shrink and faster fulfillment where AI was in use.
Nov 2025
Kroger agreed to offer Instacart's Cart Assistant on its iOS app as it closed three automated fulfillment centers and shifted to store-based and third-party delivery.
Jan 2026
Kroger expanded its Google Cloud relationship for a Gemini-based shopping assistant and store call analysis, and said Sage had more than 95 use cases and up to 150,000 active associate users.
Mar 2026
Kroger named Milen Mahadevan its first Chief Data and AI Officer and said its own shopping assistant was live in a couple of divisions, to reach all divisions later in 2026.
May 2026
CIO Jim Clendenen said Kroger had launched an AI driver's license training program for associates in the months since Milen Mahadevan became Chief Data and AI Officer.
Jul 2026
Kroger released its AI Shopping Assistant across the Kroger Family of Companies websites and apps.
Sep 2026
Kroger said it is making AI literacy training and tools available to more than 400,000 associates.
Oct 2026
Kroger said its AI Shopping Assistant runs on 100% of its banners and set targets for AI-assisted waste savings and the Kroger Capability Center.
Economics & controls
Spend and ROI
Technology budget
Kroger does not disclose a technology or AI budget. Kroger's capital investments were $3.9 billion in 2025, and it guided to $3.8 billion to $4.0 billion for 2026 with more spending on new stores and technology. David Kennerley said on Mar 5, 2026 that Kroger's capital investments will support technology and AI, where it is investing aggressively, with significant investment dollars in 2026 and beyond.
What AI itself costs
Kroger has not disclosed what it spends on models, cloud capacity or AI staff, or what its Google Cloud and Instacart AI agreements cost.
Reported ROI
Kroger has reported no business return it credits to AI, for any use case or for the company as a whole. At its Oct 20, 2026 Investor Update, Kroger targeted about $4 billion of annualized structural cost savings by 2029, which its presentation says technology and AI enable, from direct sourcing, buying smarter in cost of goods (about $2 billion together), indirect spending and the Kroger Capability Center. Separately, Kroger targets about $500 million of savings by 2029 from its broader waste reduction plan, which pairs RFID and other connected-store signals with an AI tool; the figure is a target rather than a result, Kroger has not separated AI's part from the RFID and other store technology, and it has not said whether the sum sits inside the $4 billion. Ron Sargent said in Sep 2025 that AI had produced more competitive pricing, shrink improvements and faster fulfillment where Kroger used it, without figures.
Productivity markers
David Kennerley said in Mar 2026 that some of Kroger's shrink results are driven by technology and AI and that people tools help it manage and schedule labor. Nate Faust said in Oct 2026 that repeat users of Kroger's shopping assistant spend 11% more, driven by more frequent trips. Kroger's bakery pilot showed about 50% lower waste costs and about 200 basis points of category sales lift, which Kroger credits to RFID and earlier markdown decisions, not to AI by name.
Headcount
Kroger employed more than 403,000 people at Jan 31, 2026. Kroger announced fewer than 1,000 corporate job cuts in Aug 2025, many in Technology and Digital according to Grocery Dive, and its 2025 results include a $47 million severance charge. Greg Foran's Oct 12, 2026 memo set a cut of about 3,000 corporate jobs over three years, which Supermarket News put at about 37% of a corporate workforce of roughly 8,200. David Kennerley said on Oct 20, 2026 that the Kroger Capability Center, which moves work to Bengaluru and redesigns it with AI and machine learning, will affect roughly 3,000 above-store associates.
Automation write-down
Kroger recorded $2.5 billion of impairment and related charges in 2025, first put at about $2.6 billion in Nov 2025, after deciding to close robotic fulfillment centers developed with Ocado in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., Frederick, Md., and Groveland, Fla. in Jan 2026 because its automated network missed operational and financial expectations. The write-down concerns warehouse robotics rather than AI, and Kroger now favors store-based fulfillment and third-party delivery.
Governance and risk
Responsible AI and human oversight
Kroger says its AI work is supported by privacy, security and responsible AI governance processes meant to ensure appropriate use of data and human oversight (Sep 2026). Yael Cosset said Kroger sets each use case's level of autonomy by its risk, repeatability and need for human judgment, keeps a human in the loop, and requires that data be auditable first-party data and that AI decisions can be undone (Retail Brew, Oct 2026).
Board oversight
Kroger's Audit Committee oversees data privacy and cybersecurity risk. Kroger's Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Security Officer brief it quarterly, meet the full board at least annually and present strategies for technological changes such as AI and quantum computing (FY2025 Form 10-K).
Approved models and training
Kroger's 84.51° built a switchboard that guides data scientists, business teams and vendors to approved large language models (Todd James, Apr 2025), and Kristin Foster's enterprise AI program builds shared tools meant to make AI safer and cheaper. Yael Cosset said in Sep 2026 that associates have access to multiple AI models and tools and are trained through a program he called an AI driver's license, which Progressive Grocer, reporting CIO Jim Clendenen's May 2026 talk, described as ensuring responsible adoption and upskilling.
Pricing and personal data
Mark Ibbotson said in Oct 2026 that Kroger does not and will not raise prices based on the person, while describing a connected store that, for app users who opt in, can tell where a shopper is and let brands reach them in the aisle. Kroger also shares computer vision shelf data with suppliers.
Disclosed risks
Kroger's FY2025 Form 10-K warns that AI shopping agents that research, compare and buy for consumers could disintermediate Kroger from customers, that competitors may use AI more successfully, that AI regulation is changing quickly and that AI may make Kroger's systems more of a target for cyberattacks.
Recent signals
Oct 20, 2026
Kroger's Investor Update targeted about $4 billion of annual cost savings by 2029 enabled by technology and AI, about $500 million of savings from its waste reduction plan, a Kroger Capability Center with a Bengaluru office affecting about 3,000 corporate roles, and reported 11% higher spend among repeat shopping-assistant users.
Oct 12, 2026
Greg Foran told Kroger staff in a memo that the company will cut about 3,000 corporate jobs over three years and use technology to reduce duplicated work.
Oct 9, 2026
Yael Cosset told Retail Brew that Kroger's AI and agentic capabilities are a step ahead of associates' adoption, and that Chief Data and AI Officer Milen Mahadevan reports to him.
Oct 1, 2026
A study by Kroger, Vidmob and MMA Global found that AI-based predictive creative scoring forecast e-commerce conversion on Kroger campaigns with 81% accuracy.
Sep 22, 2026
Yael Cosset said at GroceryShop that Kroger's AI gateway processes several trillion tokens a year, that AI Shopping Assistant users build larger baskets, and that associates have access to multiple AI models and tools, with training through an AI driver's license program.
Sep 22, 2026
Kroger set out its AI strategy: proprietary and third-party frontier models on shared infrastructure, autonomy set by risk, and AI literacy training and tools made available to more than 400,000 associates.
Jul 28, 2026
Kroger launched its AI Shopping Assistant across the Kroger Family of Companies websites and apps for meal planning, recipes and cart building.
May 13, 2026
Greg Foran's first proxy letter said technology including AI underpins Kroger's plan and cited a live program that moves fresh products through the supply chain faster and at lower cost.
May 2026
CIO Jim Clendenen told Extreme Networks' customer conference that Kroger uses Anthropic's Claude for code writing and quality assurance, Fierce Network reported.
Mar 5, 2026
Kroger named 84.51° president Milen Mahadevan to a new Chief Data and AI Officer role, and CFO David Kennerley called Kroger's AI work early-stage while promising significant investment in 2026 and beyond.
Feb 9, 2026
Kroger appointed former Walmart U.S. and Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran as CEO, succeeding interim CEO Ron Sargent.
Jan 12, 2026
Kroger executives said at NRF that Sage has more than 95 use cases and is actively used by up to 150,000 associates.
Jan 11, 2026
Kroger expanded its relationship with Google Cloud to roll out Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience for a shopping assistant and Customer Experience Agent Studio for store calls.
Nov 18, 2025
Kroger said it would close three automated fulfillment centers, take about $2.6 billion of charges and offer Instacart's Cart Assistant AI on its iOS app.
Nov 10, 2025
Kroger Precision Marketing launched Agent Monday, a weekly AI-generated insights email for brands built on 84.51° Stratum data and checked by further AI evaluations, sending more than 600 reports on its first day.
Quick answers
- How does Kroger deploy AI?
- Kroger deploys AI through 84.51°, its data science subsidiary, whose president Milen Mahadevan became Kroger's first Chief Data and AI Officer in Mar 2026, and through assistants for staff and shoppers: Sage, actively used by up to 150,000 associates, and an AI Shopping Assistant on every banner. Kroger pairs its own models with third-party models such as Google's Gemini and has reported no business return it credits to AI; its target of about $4 billion of annual savings by 2029 mixes AI with sourcing and procurement.
- What does Kroger use AI for?
- Kroger runs AI in demand forecasting, pricing and promotions, personalization, retail media, store operations, fulfillment and associate self-service, mostly built by its 84.51° subsidiary, and added customer-facing agents in 2026. Kroger has not reported a business return credited to AI for any single use case; its published figures are targets, such as about $500 million of waste savings by 2029 from a waste reduction plan that pairs RFID, robots and shelf data with an AI tool. At the firm level, Kroger says technology and AI enable a target of about $4 billion of annual structural cost savings by 2029 but has not separated AI's share.
- Who leads AI at Kroger?
- AI at Kroger is led by Yael Cosset (Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer); Milen Mahadevan (Chief Data and AI Officer; President of 84.51°); Jim Clendenen (Chief Information Officer). Ownership of AI on the org chart: Chief Data and AI Officer Milen Mahadevan, also president of 84.51°.
- What AI platform does Kroger use?
- Kroger built an AI gateway above its data and data science that runs its own models alongside outside companies' technology across customer and employee applications (Sep 2026). Kroger's assistants include Sage for associates and an AI Shopping Assistant for customers.
- Which AI models does Kroger use?
- Kroger combines proprietary models for demand forecasting, operations, personalization and generative AI with third-party frontier models. Kroger named Google's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience in Jan 2026, and its CIO said in May 2026 that Kroger writes and tests code with Anthropic's Claude.
- How many Kroger employees use AI?
- Up to 150,000 Kroger associates actively used Sage in Jan 2026, out of more than 403,000 employees, and Kroger said in Sep 2026 it is making AI literacy training and tools available to more than 400,000 associates.
- How far has AI spread at Kroger?
- Kroger has reported no business return it credits to AI, for any use case or for the company as a whole: the about $4 billion of annual cost savings it targets by 2029 is a target that it says technology and AI enable, mixed with direct sourcing, procurement and the Kroger Capability Center; the about $500 million of waste savings by 2029 is a target for a plan that pairs RFID and other store technology with an AI tool; the 11% higher spend by repeat users of its AI Shopping Assistant is an engagement measure; and CFO David Kennerley called Kroger's AI work early-stage on Mar 5, 2026, citing shrink results driven partly by technology and AI without a figure. Kroger has reported a rollout with a user count: Karl Niemann, a Kroger vice president of human resources, said at NRF in Jan 2026 that Sage, its AI assistant for associates, is actively used by up to 150,000 associates, and Chief Data and AI Officer Milen Mahadevan has led AI work across Kroger since Mar 2026. That places Kroger at Piloting; AI-credited returns in two or more functions, or a firm-level figure Kroger credits to AI, would move it to Scaling.
Open questions
- Which models run Kroger's AI Shopping Assistant, and is the assistant released in Jul 2026 the Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience assistant Kroger announced in Jan 2026?
- How much of Kroger's $4 billion annual savings target comes from AI rather than direct sourcing, procurement and moving work to Bengaluru?
- What business return do Kroger's deployed tools with no published figures deliver, such as Sage, the AI Shopping Assistant, the in-stock agent, pricing and forecasting, and what has the AI waste tool saved so far against the $500 million target for 2029?
- What does Kroger spend on AI models, cloud capacity and AI staff, given that it discloses no technology budget?
- How many data scientists and AI specialists does Kroger employ across 84.51° and Technology + Digital?
- Where do Kroger's models run beyond Google Cloud and 84.51°'s Databricks on Azure, how widely do Kroger developers use Anthropic's Claude, and which large language models are on 84.51°'s approved list?
- How does Milen Mahadevan's remit as Chief Data and AI Officer divide from Yael Cosset's, and which models and token volumes run through Kroger's AI gateway?
- How many Kroger associates use AI each week beyond Sage, and how many have completed AI literacy training or the AI driver's license?
- Did Kroger launch Instacart's Cart Assistant and Google's Customer Experience Agent Studio for store calls, and with what results?
- How many of the roughly 3,000 corporate roles will be eliminated rather than moved to Bengaluru, and how much of that change does AI drive?
Sources
Kroger and 84.51°
- Kroger details AI strategy at GroceryShop 2026 (Sep 22, 2026)
- Kroger scales generative AI strategy with Google Cloud (Jan 11, 2026)
- Kroger launches its AI Shopping Assistant (Jul 28, 2026)
- Kroger outlines plan and long-term targets at its Investor Update (Oct 20, 2026)
- Kroger appoints Greg Foran as CEO (Feb 9, 2026)
- Kroger names Nate Faust Chief eCommerce Officer (Aug 11, 2026)
- Kroger names Mark Ibbotson Chief Store Operations Officer (Sep 2, 2026)
- 84.51°: About us and leadership
- 84.51°: Careers and open roles (Nov 2026)
- 84.51° in the news: Progressive Grocer on Kroger CIO Jim Clendenen's AI strategy (2026)
Filings and investor materials
- 2026 Investor Update, corrected transcript (Oct 20, 2026)
- 2026 Investor Update, presentation (Oct 20, 2026)
- Kroger FY2025 Form 10-K (filed Mar 31, 2026)
- Kroger 2026 proxy statement (May 13, 2026)
- Form 8-K: Greg Foran appointed CEO (Feb 9, 2026)
- Form 8-K: Ron Sargent to serve as non-executive chairman from Jul 1, 2026 (Jun 26, 2026)
- Form 8-K exhibit: Kroger evolves eCommerce offerings (Nov 18, 2025)
- Q4 2025 earnings call transcript, The Motley Fool (Mar 5, 2026)
- Q2 2026 earnings call transcript, The Motley Fool (Sep 11, 2026)
News
- Grocery Dive: Kroger taps Google Gemini, announces more key AI moves (Jan 13, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger names 84.51° chief to oversee AI efforts (Mar 6, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger's AI focus is on flexibility and control (Sep 23, 2026)
- Retail Brew: Kroger's chief digital officer on the grocer's AI ambitions (Oct 9, 2026)
- Supermarket News: Kroger sees AI shopping assistant driving larger baskets (Sep 22, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: 5 big numbers from Kroger's Investor Day (Oct 22, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger unveils three refreshed store formats (Oct 21, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger to cut 3K corporate jobs over the next 3 years (Oct 12, 2026)
- Supermarket News: Kroger plans 3,000 corporate staff cuts (Oct 13, 2026)
- Fierce Network: Inside Kroger's AI-driven network transformation (May 2026)
- Modern Retail: Kroger launches AI-generated email digest for suppliers (Nov 20, 2025)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger announces corporate layoffs, structural changes (Aug 26, 2025)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger takes key step forward in tying retail media creative with digital sales (Oct 1, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: How Kroger is reshaping its C-suite (Sep 21, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger and new CEO Greg Foran outline 5 growth priorities (Mar 10, 2026)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger plans acceleration of AI efforts (Sep 17, 2025)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger's former 84.51° data chief Todd James on AI (Apr 17, 2025)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger and Sprouts to pioneer Instacart's AI tech (Nov 4, 2025)
- Grocery Dive: Kroger acknowledges its bet on robotics went too far (Nov 19, 2025)
- CIO News: Kroger's first Chief Data and AI Officer, Milen Mahadevan (2026)
Data confidence
- Confirmed
- Stated in a primary or reputable public source.
- Estimated
- Derived or approximated from public reporting.
- Unconfirmed
- Reported, but not yet corroborated.
Kroger profile · Enterprise AI diffusion report by Imagine · facts checked against their sources on Nov 1, 2026
