ETtechEcommerce giant Flipkart has said that Hemant Badri, who currently leads supply chain for its quick commerce arm Minutes and ReCommerce, will drive the company’s AI initiatives, according to an internal email.
Badri will be working along with Flipkart’s chief product and technology officer (CPTO) Balaji Thiagarajan.
The company did not respond to an emailed query from ET till the time of publishing.
The internal email from Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart group, which ET has reviewed, said, “The landscape for our industry is evolving rapidly. To lead in the next decade, we need to build on AI.” This is expected to lead to an intuitive customer experience, seller tools that drive growth more efficiently, and internal productivity, where Al handles routine tasks so teams can focus on innovation, with a “human-in-the-loop”.
“This is a broader organisational shift. It will require ownership across functions and teams,” he said in the email. Terming this an AI Transformation Charter, he said that Badri will identify and operationalise use cases where AI can drive the most impact, in partnership with Thiagarajan, who is leading engineering efforts in OneTech.
OneTech is a Flipkart unit that unifies data, product, and engineering in order to modernise the platform ahead of its IPO.
GenAI push
The Walmart-owned company has been upping its AI efforts under OneTech as it moves towards a public listing by early 2027. In January, the company launched SLAP (Shop Like A Pro), its conversational AI shopping assistant.
The company has adopted AI across functions like marketing, customer service, and operations, according to people familiar with the developments.
In November 2025, ET reported that Flipkart is optimising its product listings to ensure better visibility on large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Later, in December, the company acquired majority stake in machine learning solutions startup Minivet AI to enhance its core AI capabilities.
Now, one of the persons familiar with the latest developments has said that the platform has been discussing generative AI optimisation for categories like fashion, home appliances, and health. This comes at a time when others like Amazon, Meesho, Swiggy, and Zepto are increasing their agentic commerce efforts.
IPO and revenue
ET reported on March 9 that the ecommerce major has completed its reverse flip ahead of its planned IPO and shifted its domicile back to India from Singapore.
Amid its IPO plans, the company has undergone a major leadership reshuffle in the past two years. Flipkart group CFO Sriram Venkataraman quit in January this year. In March, the company brought back Nishant Verman as senior vice president, who was earlier part of Flipkart’s corporate development team and played a key role in the company’s $16 billion sale to Walmart in 2018.
For the 2025 financial year, most of the company's group entities narrowed their losses by cutting expenses, while revenue growth was muted amid an overall slowdown in online retail.
Flipkart Internet, which runs the core marketplace, posted a 14% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenues for FY25, at Rs 20,493 crore. More significantly, net losses fell 37% YoY to Rs 1,494 crore.
Badri will be working along with Flipkart’s chief product and technology officer (CPTO) Balaji Thiagarajan.
The company did not respond to an emailed query from ET till the time of publishing.
The internal email from Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart group, which ET has reviewed, said, “The landscape for our industry is evolving rapidly. To lead in the next decade, we need to build on AI.” This is expected to lead to an intuitive customer experience, seller tools that drive growth more efficiently, and internal productivity, where Al handles routine tasks so teams can focus on innovation, with a “human-in-the-loop”.
“This is a broader organisational shift. It will require ownership across functions and teams,” he said in the email. Terming this an AI Transformation Charter, he said that Badri will identify and operationalise use cases where AI can drive the most impact, in partnership with Thiagarajan, who is leading engineering efforts in OneTech.
OneTech is a Flipkart unit that unifies data, product, and engineering in order to modernise the platform ahead of its IPO.
Discover the stories of your interest
GenAI push
The Walmart-owned company has been upping its AI efforts under OneTech as it moves towards a public listing by early 2027. In January, the company launched SLAP (Shop Like A Pro), its conversational AI shopping assistant.
The company has adopted AI across functions like marketing, customer service, and operations, according to people familiar with the developments.
In November 2025, ET reported that Flipkart is optimising its product listings to ensure better visibility on large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Later, in December, the company acquired majority stake in machine learning solutions startup Minivet AI to enhance its core AI capabilities.
Now, one of the persons familiar with the latest developments has said that the platform has been discussing generative AI optimisation for categories like fashion, home appliances, and health. This comes at a time when others like Amazon, Meesho, Swiggy, and Zepto are increasing their agentic commerce efforts.
IPO and revenue
ET reported on March 9 that the ecommerce major has completed its reverse flip ahead of its planned IPO and shifted its domicile back to India from Singapore.
Amid its IPO plans, the company has undergone a major leadership reshuffle in the past two years. Flipkart group CFO Sriram Venkataraman quit in January this year. In March, the company brought back Nishant Verman as senior vice president, who was earlier part of Flipkart’s corporate development team and played a key role in the company’s $16 billion sale to Walmart in 2018.
For the 2025 financial year, most of the company's group entities narrowed their losses by cutting expenses, while revenue growth was muted amid an overall slowdown in online retail.
Flipkart Internet, which runs the core marketplace, posted a 14% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenues for FY25, at Rs 20,493 crore. More significantly, net losses fell 37% YoY to Rs 1,494 crore.
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