Dive Brief:
- In a new role for the discount retailer, Dollar General named Travis Nixon as its senior vice president of artificial intelligence optimization, per a Tuesday announcement.
- The executive is tasked with leading Dollar General’s “business process management initiatives” by using AI to promote optimization across areas such as supply chain, store operations and merchandising.
- Nixon most recently served as the head of AI for Dropbox’s security division and previously held other leadership roles at Meta and Microsoft.
Dive Insight:
Dollar General’s new executive role is part of a larger digital transformation happening across the retail industry.
“At a time when our customers rely on us more than ever, we're excited to welcome Travis and his transformative AI leadership to streamline operations and enhance the experience for Dollar General employees and customers,” Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development Steve Deckard said in a statement. “This new role represents our commitment to driving innovation to unlock value in our operations, making us stronger now and in the future. With greater strategic integration of AI, we look forward to accelerating and expanding existing efforts to drive operational excellence, cost efficiency, and customer-centric innovation.”
AI, particularly generative AI, is being utilized across retail operations, with companies such as Ralph Lauren and Lululemon making it a core part of the executive suite.
One of Dollar General’s key competitors recently expressed a dedication to rolling out AI usage across the business.
Dollar Tree’s CEO Mike Creedon during an investor day in October explained that the company is leaning into the technology, replacing older legacy systems with AI-enabled platforms to help with everything from assortment planning to inventory visibility. Additionally, Dollar Tree has been using agentics for the first few screenings in the hiring process.
At Dollar General, the AI push follows its Q2 earnings in August, which showed net sales grew 5.1% year over year to $10.7 billion. Same-store sales increased 2.8% and Dollar General raised its full-year guidance.
