Target Hires Its First AI Chief. Do Retail CMOs Need One Too?

Target hired Chandu Nair as its first-ever AI officer at the end of summer, charged with driving AI strategy across everything from the online storefront to in-store associate tools. His stated mission: "make AI real for the people who experience Target every day."

That's a promise, not a result. And it lands on a marketing-leadership audience already wrestling with the same question: does AI need its own chief, or does it need a mandate attached to someone who already has authority?

How big is the consumer AI shift, in numbers?

The numbers behind the hire are concrete. 72% of U.S. consumers regularly or at least occasionally tap AI tools for ideas and recommendations. 17% of online shoppers will kick off holiday shopping on an AI platform this season. Among Gen AI adopters, 58% use AI for shopping advice and decision support — largely, the source notes, as a money-saving tactic against inflation at the grocery store and the gas pump.

Rithum, a commerce platform company, adds one more figure: 80% of shoppers under 44 use AI to shop, according to its recent AI report.

So the demand signal exists. What's contested is the org chart.

Who has already made the hire?

Target isn't alone. Kroger hired its first chief data and AI officer in March. Wm Morrison, the U.K. grocer, went further and created a dedicated department led by its first-ever chief AI officer.

Blaine Nielsen, president of retailers at Rithum, reads Target's move as a signal of a broader shift — and frames adoption not as a matter of if, but when. His logic: shopping has grown more complex across endless digital aisles, marketplaces, social commerce and a steady stream of new brands.

"But more choice can also make shopping more complex. AI can take a broad assortment and narrow it down to a few relevant options based on what a shopper actually needs, in seconds," Nielsen said in an email interview.

That speed is the pitch. With the right assortment and strong product data, Nielsen argues, AI "can connect customers to the right products faster and make a large catalog feel relevant and personal." For CMOs, that's a merchandising and personalization argument wearing an org-design costume.

Is a chief AI officer actually necessary?

Here the consensus frays. Greg Serrago, retail practice lead at global IT services firm UST — whose team works with 12 of the top 25 global retailers — gives a blunt answer.

"No, not every retailer needs a chief AI officer. But every retailer needs someone with the authority to orchestrate AI across the enterprise, connect it to real business priorities, and hold the organization accountable for turning AI investment into measurable value," Serrago said in an email interview.

His summary line is sharper: "The title is optional; the mandate is not."

Note what he didn't say. He offered no threshold — no revenue size, headcount or AI-spend level where a dedicated chief pays off. He called the hire a "one size fits all" strategy with no clear-cut answer until each retailer assesses its own case. In some situations, he said, AI responsibility should simply stay with the CTO or another senior executive.

What should the role actually do?

If a retailer does designate an AI chief, Serrago warns against framing that person as the one "who owns AI."

"They should be the person who makes sure the enterprise knows where AI matters, how it gets scaled, and who is accountable for the outcome. At UST, we've seen that roughly 70% of AI transformation value comes from people and process reinforces the point: AI leadership is ultimately about orchestrating business transformation, not managing another technology platform," he said.

That 70% figure is a vendor consultant's internal estimate, not an audited benchmark. Treat it accordingly. But it points to a model Serrago recommends explicitly: centralized orchestration with distributed execution.

• A focused AI team sets governance, architecture, standards and reusable capabilities.
• The actual work lives with technology and business teams running merchandising, marketing, supply chain, operations and customer experience.
• The failure mode is organizational: "If AI becomes its own organizational island, it becomes much harder to turn experimentation into enterprise value."

What's the takeaway for marketing leaders?

Nielsen expects more large brands and retailers to formalize AI leadership in some capacity, if they haven't already — though whether that becomes a dedicated C-suite role depends on the retailer's size and maturity. The lesson he draws from Target isn't "hire a chief." It's ownership.

"AI isn't a side project anymore. It touches product data, merchandising, content, customer experience and operations all at once," he said. "For a company like Target, putting that kind of leadership in place signals that they're serious about coordinating AI across the business to ultimately create a more seamless shopping experience."

The skeptic's read: three retailers have made the hire, and one consultancy says most don't need to. Both can be right. What neither side disputes is that somebody with authority has to own the outcome — and that, for now, Target has told the market who its somebody is.