Walmart Layoffs: Who is Suresh Kumar, the Indian-origin CTO in news amid latest job cuts
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Earlier this week, Walmart announced plans to lay off 1,500 employees at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, as it looks to cut costs and weather economic uncertainties, affecting the global technology team, ecommerce fulfillment in US stores and advertising business, Walmart Connect.The job cuts are meant to accelerate decision-making and reduce complexities, a memo by chief technology officer (CTO) Suresh Kumar and Walmart US chief executive officer (CEO) John Furner read, as reviewed by Bloomberg News. While eliminating some roles, Walmart is also creating new positions, they said.The latest round of layoffs has drawn criticism from US tech workers. One user on X claimed the vacancies in the Walmart tech team will be filled by H-1B visa holders. One post with Kumar's image claimed without proof that 40% of Walmart's IT department comprises H-1B visa holders from India.Over three decades of his experience, Bengaluru-born Kumar has worked with Microsoft Google and Amazon in various leading capacities. He has been working with Walmart for nearly six years, currently serving as global CTO and chief development officer. In this role, he leads Walmart's technologists across its global businesses, including Walmart US, Sam's Club, and Walmart International. He also oversees global shared services, data, cloud, infrastructure, and information security organisations for the retail major.Before joining Walmart, Kumar was the vice president and general manager at Google. In this role, he oversaw display, video, app advertising, and analytics, managing the advertising revenue and bottomline across platforms like the Google Play Store, Gmail, and YouTube. He led product and engineering teams for key advertising and analytics products including AdSense, AdMob, DV360, AdManager, and Google Analytics (both standard and 360). During his tenure, he drove business growth, introduced new product features, and significantly cut infrastructure and traffic acquisition costs.Before joining Google, Kumar held a senior role at Microsoft as corporate vice president of cloud infrastructure and operations. He led the global planning, delivery, and management of Microsoft's physical cloud infrastructure, including data centres, networks, servers, supply chains, and automation systems. Under his leadership, Microsoft doubled its global cloud footprint and tripled capacity. He also transformed the company's cloud supply chain and operations to enhance scalability, agility, and safety through automation.Prior to Microsoft, Kumar spent 15 years at Amazon in multiple leadership roles. As vice president of technology for retail systems and operations, he played a key role in scaling Amazon's retail business tenfold by automating functions like forecasting, pricing, merchandising, and vendor management. He also oversaw Amazon's retail operations, catalog management, and competitive analysis. Earlier, he led Amazon's retail supply chain and inventory systems.Kumar began his career at IBM's Thomas J Watson Research Center, where he worked on collaborative supply chain planning and shock protection technologies for portable hard drives.Kumar holds a PhD in engineering from Princeton University. He completed his BTech in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1987.Kumar earned $15.98 million last year at Walmart, according to a regulatory filing. This included base salary of $1.1 million and stock awards worth $12 million.Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump lashed out at Walmart , accusing the retail giant of using tariffs as an excuse to raise prices and urging the company to absorb the cost increases instead of passing them on to American consumers.'Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain,' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Metro on way but city bus parked: BCLL bets on e-buses to bridge gap
Bhopal: As metro operations approach their launch, a significant portion of Bhopal City Link Limited (BCLL) city buses are currently non-operational. The metro system requires a supporting feeder network, primarily relying on BCLL services. However, BCLL's effectiveness hinges on the arrival of 100 electric buses to adequately meet passenger requirements. The anticipated deployment of electric buses via the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme offers a prospective resolution to address this challenge in the transportation network. BCLL CEO Anju Arun Kumar explained the issue with the BCLL bus service stemmed from a disagreement with an existing operator. While efforts are underway to resolve it, the matter had gone into litigation. In the meantime, the city has received approval for around 100 electric buses under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme. These are expected to start arriving by the end of the year. Alongside this, work is also in progress to develop the required charging infrastructure. Routes Await Ridership There are about 80 diesel buses and around 77 CNG buses which are on road. 149 buses are parked stationery under litigation. Regarding the emphasis on metro routes, concerns arise about bus connectivity to various areas of the state capital. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Sources indicate that due to the net cost model, certain operators have withdrawn services from routes that weren't financially viable. "If ridership picks up, service can resume on those routes," said Kumar. She mentioned that work is in progress to optimise bus routes, with required approvals being pursued from the regional transport office for implementing these route modifications. Most of the existing operators are still functioning, and there haven't been major problems with them. The number of buses on the road is above 100. Routes became slightly less profitable due to reduced ridership, which led to fewer buses operating on certain routes, she added. BCLL which is wholly owned subsidiary BMC, anticipates it will be first city off the block to start e-bus service. It is expected to receive first lot of electric buses before the year concludes. The administration has initiated tenders for charging facilities and depots, implementing the gross cost contract framework. The central administration will finance charging equipment entirely, while depot construction costs are shared between central and state authorities. BCLL has also proposed enhanced intracity transport connections to alleviate urban route congestion. Mayor Pass In Limbo BCLL and BMC are yet to decide whether mayor pass, a subsidised travel card to ensure affordable transport for students and economically disadvantaged passengers, will be part of e-bus service.
Mint
6 hours ago
- Mint
US passes GENIUS Act: Could the new cryptocurrency law trigger the next global financial crisis?
On June 17, the US Senate passed the GENIUS Act, aiming to regulate a type of cryptocurrency known as 'stablecoins'. Even though this move is viewed as a big win for the cryptocurrency sector, a closer look at the law reveals how it could, quite easily, lead to the next global economic crash. People are increasingly investing in crypto because its volatile value can lead to huge returns on investment. For instance, Bitcoin (BTC), the oldest cryptocurrency on record, surged the most on Monday by climbing over $120,000 per BTC. Since the factors that determine its price are often unclear, crypto investment is essentially a roll of the dice. Making profits on crypto trading is often as likely as winning at roulette. The crypto industry realised that the high volatility and unpredictability of crypto currencies will pose a barrier in attracting more risk-averse investors, reported The Conversation. Hence, to create the appearance of stability, companies began to create 'stablecoins'—cryptocurrencies whose prices are pegged to another currency. In this case, the companies had to hold an equivalent amount of pegged currency in reserve so that the investors could sell the currencies anytime and demand the sale amount in that particular currency. Now that the GENIUS Act has passed through the US Senate, big companies like Amazon and Walmart are already planning to issue their own stablecoins for customers. Since the GENIUS Act will actively regulate stablecoins, people may believe that all stablecoins are equally safe. However, this is impossible to guarantee, and several questions remain about how businesses will leverage their own stablecoins to their advantage. The potential for stablecoins to trigger a financial crisis draws parallels to historical currency crises, where a country, instead of a company, issues a pegged currency. Argentina is one such example. From 1991 to 2002, the Argentinian Central Bank promised to exchange one peso for $1, but this artificial peg distorted trade and ultimately led to economic collapse when it was removed. If big US companies start issuing USD-pegged stablecoins during their successful period and later their finances take a turn for the worse, it would cause a bigger crisis in the market. The company would finance the coins with assets such as US treasury bills or bonds to guarantee the coin's value. The Conversation report points out that if one company collapses, it would set off a chain reaction. Investors would then start returning stablecoins, prompting the company to sell off its USD holdings (US treasury bills) to calm nervous investors. The impacts might soon start to ripple outwards. A selloff of US bonds would decrease the price of bonds themselves, causing US interest rates to spike. A sudden, unexpected, and drastic increase in US interest rates could easily translate into a global financial crisis, as banks and governments all around the world would suddenly face solvency crises. Despite the regulators ensuring that the companies have enough reserves to fulfil their promises if investors start to panic, there's a high chance that things might take a turn. Just a few years ago, they failed to notice that Silicon Valley Bank had too many assets at risk of an increase in interest rates, an oversight that caused the bank to collapse in 2023. It is therefore not difficult to imagine a situation where multiple companies are able to irresponsibly issue too many stablecoins. If this happens, the consequences could be dire, not just for the US, but for the entire global economy, the publication reported.
Mint
7 hours ago
- Mint
A Life in Motion: How Cultural Shifts Became This Designer's Biggest Asset
For Mehul Bhargava, design has never been confined to a studio, software, or sketchbook. It's a way of seeing, absorbing, and connecting with the world — something he's been learning not just through projects, but through the lived experience of moving across nine cities, three countries, and three continents. Currently based in New York, Mehul is a 22-year-old industrial and UI/UX designer whose work spans both physical and digital realms. A graduate with highest honors from Pratt Institute, he has designed everything from 3D-printed consumer products to intuitive digital health platforms. But ask him what truly shaped his creative philosophy, and he won't point first to the tools — he'll point to the people, cities, and rhythms he's grown up with. 'When you've lived in places like Delhi, Nairobi, and New York, you start to realize how differently people navigate the world — and what they expect from the objects and systems around them,' he often reflects. 'That awareness quietly enters your work.' For Mehul, design isn't just a job — it's a lens that influences how he cooks, organizes his desk, notices wayfinding in a train station, or even manages feedback at work. Having been exposed to different cultural norms, he's become attuned to nuance: where some people value efficiency, others value ritual; where some expect sleek minimalism, others seek warmth and story. This multicultural perspective informs how he designs user flows, picks typefaces, models components for 3D printing, or thinks through packaging systems. His process is less about finding one perfect answer and more about uncovering what's appropriate — for the user, for the context, for the moment. One of Mehul's strengths lies in his ability to fluidly switch between physical and digital design — a skill that's increasingly valuable in today's connected world. His portfolio includes Swish, a concept vacuum cleaner with soft, organic curves meant to invite use, as well as UI projects like a real-time diabetes support platform designed for Novo Nordisk. Whether he's prototyping with PLA filament or wireframing in Figma, he brings the same curiosity and systems thinking. Even as he builds an international career, Mehul sees himself as a work in progress. His current focus is on refining how he tells stories through design — stories that are both globally relevant and locally rooted. He's especially interested in the emotional layer of objects and interfaces: how they make people feel seen, supported, and understood. 'Living in so many cities showed me that no design is neutral,' he says. 'Everything carries intention — whether it's a chair, a checkout screen, or a toothpaste cap. Once you understand that, you begin designing with more responsibility.' Mehul Bhargava is an Indian-born industrial and UI/UX designer based in New York City. He has worked across industries including consumer tech, wellness, and healthcare, and has been recognized by the IESNYC Lighting Competition and the Student Choice Award at Pratt Institute. You can follow his work at Note to readers: This article is part of Mint's paid consumer connect Initiative. Mint assumes no editorial involvement or responsibility for errors, omissions, or content accuracy. Want to get your story featured as above? click here!
