When Creative Becomes Software: Walmart Connect Product Leader Nishanth Kadiyala on Scaling AI

Global retail media expansion hinges on balancing localized AI-generated creative with brand integrity.

In this episode of the Global Lens podcast series, host Lavina Suthenthiran speaks with Nishanth Kadiyala (Walmart Connect) about how Walmart built an automated creative generation system handling nearly $1 billion in ad spend and how to scale generative AI across international borders.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

- Creative was retail media's last automation holdout.

While ad tech automated targeting, bidding, and attribution in seconds, creative production traditionally took weeks of manual reviews across designers, researchers, and policy checkers. This bottleneck is critical to solve as the IAB 2026 Outlook study projects commerce media spend to grow 12.1% this year, with two-thirds of buyers prioritizing agentic AI for campaign execution.

- Scaling AI creative requires a non-negotiable rubric.

To manage brand risk across endless product catalogs, Walmart aligned stakeholders around four core evaluation pillars: product truth, compliance and policy, brand voice, and visual aesthetics.

- Rollouts must be sequenced by brand sophistication.

Walmart launched its automated tool with long-tail marketplace sellers who prioritize raw performance first, using that volume to build its evaluation engine before expanding to mid-market brands and eventual Fortune 50 CPGs with strict national campaign guidelines.

- Tech infrastructure travels across borders, but cultural nuance requires local expertise.

When expanding its creative AI tools from the US to Mexico, Walmart found that 80% of the underlying tech guardrails transferred directly. However, because US consumer habits do not automatically generalize, the team trained local subject-matter experts to teach the AI regional language, culture, and shopper preferences.

Listen above to learn how Walmart Connect built its automated creative generation system, how to manage AI-driven brand risk, and what retailers need in place before scaling generative AI globally.