Artificial intelligence has become a defining factor in the consumer goods sector, with forward-thinking organizations systematically developing capabilities that transcend individual projectsto create enterprise-wide transformation. These companies recognize that AI maturity isn’t just about implementing technology; it’s about reimagining their entire business models. At IMD’s TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation, we’ve developed a comprehensive framework that evaluates organizations’ AI maturity across five key dimensions. Our proprietary AI Maturity Index identifies what sets industry leaders apart from the competition.
When we examine the 2024 AI Maturity Ranking with a focus on consumer goods companies like Sony (#18), Walmart (#24), and The Home Depot (#75), distinct patterns emerge that provide guidance for organizations seeking to advance their AI capabilities.
Companies demonstrating advanced AI maturity are characterized by leadership teams that position AI as fundamental to their competitive strategies rather than just another technology investment.
Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon exemplifies this approach, articulating a clear vision for AI-driven retail. “Our commitment to integrating AI into our core operations is driven by our vision to become the world’s leading data-driven retailer,” McMillon says. This philosophy guides Walmart’s approach to AI adoption, driving executive decisions and resource allocation.
Sony’s leadership has similarly prioritized AI through strategic appointments and structural investments. Their 2023 appointment of Geoff Taylor as Executive Vice President of AI in their music division marked a significant milestone. According to Variety, this was possibly “the first AI-specific senior executive role in the music industry,” signaling Sony’s commitment to addressing AI’s opportunities and challenges in creative content. Taylor’s extensive background as CEO of the British Phonographic Industry made him uniquely qualified to help Sony navigate the intersection of AI, music rights, and creative content.
“This infrastructure supports their AI-powered mobile app that utilizes machine learning to understand what type of project a shopper is working on and deliver appropriate project guides and resources.”
The most AI-mature consumer organizations have built sophisticated technical infrastructures and innovative AI-powered products that create new value propositions and enhance customer experiences.
Sony demonstrates technical sophistication through product innovation. Its launch of the Raspberry Pi AI Camera showcases their focus on “edge AI” capabilities, enabling real-time object recognition without cloud dependencies. Sony’s Diff-A-Riff tool serves as an AI co-creator for musicians, while its 2024 Bravia TV lineup integrates AI for image processing and recommendations. These AI-powered products extend across the organization’s gaming, music, and entertainment verticals, creating new value propositions for consumers. Walmart’s approach centers on its massive data infrastructure. According to Retail Dive, recent innovations have used AI to improve their product catalog by processing 850 million data points. They’ve also developed products like “Sparky,” its personal shopping assistant, and “Trend-to-Product,” a generative AI tool that has helped reduce apparel design lead times from 24-26 weeks to just 6-8 weeks, according to a recent report.
The Home Depot has built a technological foundation using AI-driven predictive analytics and computer vision technology to optimize inventory management and ensure products are always available. This infrastructure supports their AI-powered mobile app that utilizes machine learning to understand what type of project a shopper is working on and deliver appropriate project guides and resources.
AI leaders integrate these technologies deeply into core business operations, moving well beyond isolated experiments to transform essential business functions and processes.
Walmart demonstrates comprehensive operational integration through its deployment of AI for both customer-facing and internal systems. In January 2024, Microsoft reported that the company introduced generative AI capabilities in its search function, creating a more intuitive browsing experience that allows customers to search by use cases rather than just product names. For associates, they’ve built an AI assistant named “Wally” that helps merchants analyze sales performance across stores, diagnose why items are under- or over-performing, and improve inventory management.
Sony employs AI operationally in its gaming division, where machine learning powers subtitling for titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, enhancing development efficiency. They’ve also implemented AI in their music rights management processes to protect their catalog, announcing in May 2024 that they would prohibit unauthorized AI training using their music catalog.
The Home Depot’s operational AI strategy centers on its Sidekick application, an in-store mobile tool powered by machine learning that directs associates to high-value tasks in real time. The company has also deployed AI-driven computer vision at self-checkouts to combat theft and created an AI model to generate customer service responses, improving agent efficiency.
The Home Depot has focused on making AI accessible through intuitive design and embedding learning into daily work.
AI-mature organizations recognize that technological evolution requires corresponding workforce development, investing strategically in reskilling, upskilling, and creating a culture that embraces AI. Walmart has made significant investments in workforce AI capabilities. According to CIO Dive, the company rolled out “My Assistant,” a generative AI-powered tool, to all 50,000 non-store US employees in 2023. The tool helps accelerate draft writing, acts as a creative partner, and can summarize large documents. In January 2024, TechCrunch reported that Walmart is expanding this tool to 11 countries outside the US, working in employees’ native languages.
As Donna Morris, EVP and Chief People Officer at Walmart, explains, “Generative AI can help us work faster and more efficiently, but it also has limitations: it lacks judgment, has a limited understanding of context, and is only as good as the data it’s trained on.” This perspective shapes Walmart’s approach to workforce development, emphasizing human judgment alongside AI capabilities.
The Home Depot has focused on making AI accessible through intuitive design and embedding learning into daily work. According to Retail Dive, its Sidekick app was built “with an intuitive user experience built for a Day 1 Associate, following our design tenet of no user training required.” This philosophy of embedding learning into the workflow rather than requiring separate training reflects a modern approach to workforce development.
In an October 2024 announcement, Walmart revealed testing with Unity to bring immersive commerce experiences to new platforms, building on the success with Roblox.
Leaders in AI maturity build networks of strategic partnerships that accelerate capability development, recognizing that competitive advantage often comes through collaboration rather than isolation.
Sony demonstrates this approach through strategic acquisitions and collaborations. The purchase of UK-based iSIZE to enhance video streaming quality shows how it uses acquisitions to rapidly integrate specialized AI capabilities. The partnership with Raspberry Pi illustrates its approach to collaborative innovation. Walmart extends its ecosystem through diverse technology partnerships. In an October 2024 announcement, the company revealed testing with Unity to bring immersive commerce experiences to new platforms, building on the success with Roblox.
The Home Depot has extended its partnership with Google Cloud to enhance retail technology using AI, improving customer experiences and operational efficiency. This strategic relationship allows the company to leverage advanced AI capabilities while focusing on its core retail strengths.
Sony has developed a comprehensive AI Ethics framework since 2018.
Mature AI organizations implement comprehensive frameworks to ensure ethical development and deployment, recognizing that trust is essential for long-term success.
Sony has developed a comprehensive AI Ethics framework since 2018. Its dedicated AI Ethics Research Flagship brings together researchers focused on ensuring AI enhances human creativity without entrenching inequities. Sony’s commitment to ethical AI is further evidenced by its stance on unauthorized AI training. In May 2024, the company took a firm position prohibiting AI systems from being trained on its music catalog without proper licensing, highlighting how responsible AI governance extends to protecting creative content in the digital age.
Walmart’s approach to responsible AI is formalized in its Responsible AI Pledge, which outlines six key commitments: transparency, security, privacy, fairness, accountability, and customer-centricity. This framework, supported by its broader Digital Trust Commitments, provides governance for its extensive AI deployments and helps maintain customer trust in increasingly data-driven operations. The company emphasizes that while AI can enhance efficiency, human judgment remains essential for responsible deployment.
The consumer goods sector demonstrates how systematic development of AI capabilities creates sustainable competitive advantages. Organizations that excel across the five dimensions of AI maturity consistently outperform peers in innovation, efficiency, and customer value.
For organizations seeking to enhance their own AI maturity, the examples set by industry leaders offer valuable guidance:
The organizations that will thrive in the coming decade will be those that systematically develop their AI capabilities across all dimensions. As the AI Maturity Index demonstrates, this comprehensive approach creates resilient organizations capable of continuous innovation and adaptation in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
IMD’s TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation provides proprietary analysis and executive education focused on helping organizations enhance digital and AI maturity. If you are interested in the AI Maturity Index methodology or would like to assess your organization’s current capabilities, you’ll find more information here.
For more insights on the leading companies in Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG), check out the latest Future Readiness Indicator.
All views expressed herein are those of the author and have been specifically developed and published in accordance with the principles of academic freedom. As such, such views are not necessarily held or endorsed by TONOMUS or its affiliates.
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