Kroger has named Milen Mahadevan, president of its 84.51° analytics unit, to serve as its chief data and AI officer, according to a company spokesperson.
The job is a newly created position for the grocer, Chairman Ron Sargent said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
Mahadevan is taking on the position as the company expands its efforts to use AI to manage internal processes and engage with shoppers. He will also continue to lead 84.51°, where he has been president since July 2020, according to the spokesperson.
Mahadevan will be charged with overseeing Kroger's efforts to use AI tools to “fully maximize our data assets and advantages,” the spokesperson wrote in an email about the move. Kroger will place all of its data and AI teams under Mahadevan’s leadership.
“With data and data science at the core of our ongoing and accelerated transformation, Milen will lead Kroger’s AI journey by developing next-generation agentic capabilities that reinvent how we operate as an enterprise and redefine how we engage with our customers,” the spokesperson wrote.
Last year, Kroger became among the first grocers to adopt new AI tech from Instacart that allows shoppers to use AI to build online baskets. The grocers also has an AI-based virtual assistant known as Sage that employees can use to manage tasks such as checking their work schedules and requesting time off.
Speaking during the earnings call, CFO David Kennerley said the company’s decision to establish the position Mahadevan has assumed makes “a big statement about how serious we’re taking” AI.
“We have significant investment dollars in 2026 and beyond targeted at making sure that we crystallize this opportunity,” Kennerley said. “Like many other companies, we’re at the early stages. We’ve made some good progress, but we’ve got a lot more to do.”
