Target appointed Chandhu Nair as its first chief AI officer, the company said Tuesday, signaling that artificial intelligence has become central to the retailer's operational strategy. Nair will join Aug. 24 from Lowe's, where he was most recently senior vice president of stores, data, AI and innovation, and will report to Chief Information Officer Prat Vemana.
The retailer also promoted Purvi Shah to senior vice president of user experience, embedding AI directly alongside UX in the corporate structure. Both Nair and Shah report to Vemana, who last year took the combined role of chief information and product officer. The moves reflect a broader push to tie technology decisions directly to customer outcomes, rather than chasing productivity gains separately.
How Target is structuring AI for outcomes
Target is coupling AI with user experience from the start. The company's statement said a close relationship between the two functions will help Target "move from insight to action faster, while keeping people at the center of what we build." Instead of adding AI to existing applications to squeeze efficiency, the pair starts with the result it wants and works backward.
"That requires what I call radical collaboration," Shah said. "We need product, technology, data and business teams sitting side by side with UX and the people we serve, learning and co-creating together from the beginning."
The approach is a deliberate departure from the enterprise trend of measuring AI ROI by cost savings. It also gives Target a defined place to test where the technology actually makes a difference. For executives weighing how to structure their own AI for Executives & Strategy teams, the move offers one concrete model: put AI leaders under the same executive umbrella as product and user experience.
A seasoned retail executive in a new role
Nair brings experience that blends product and technology from earlier roles at Lowe's, Staples and Gap. He is joining during a period of business momentum: Target reported net sales up 6.7% year over year to $25.4 billion in the first fiscal quarter of 2026. The role spans AI across the enterprise with a broad remit "bringing greater focus and coordination to AI across the enterprise," the company said.
Martha Heller, CEO of executive search firm Heller, told sister publication CIO Dive in a previous interview that combining product and technology allows companies to move faster. "Tighter alignment between the technology that goes into the product and what customers want," she said.
Why this matters for executives and strategy
Chief executives considering where to place AI oversight can watch Target's decision to embed it at the C-suite with a direct line to UX and product. The structure forces both teams to optimize for customer outcomes, not just technical benchmarks. Nair's own description sums up the approach: "As AI reshapes retail, its true impact won't ultimately be measured by models, benchmarks, or the sophistication of the technology. It will be measured on the frontlines."
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