IIT-Madras, Walmart Global Tech come together to accelerate research and skilling

The Walmart Global Technology (WGT) would utilise the space in the IIT-M Research Park to leverage the broader ecosystem and work with the start-up companies incubated by the IIT Madras Incubation Cell, a press release said.

Through this corporate partnership, IIT-M students and Walmart Global Technology associates would work on research projects, facilitated by the Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR) at IIT-Madras.

The team at WGT would have access to several short and long-term education and training programmes to up-skill talent and fit the changing needs of the retail and e-commerce industry.

“Walmart Global Tech develops and manages the foundational technologies on which our customer experiences around the world are built. We are a human-led tech-empowered company, and our talented associates in India are critical to driving Walmart’s global businesses and leading the next retail disruption,” Walmart Inc Global Chief Technology Officer, Suresh Kumar said.

“Our association with IIT-M will help us further empower our teams, collaborate on digital innovation, and strengthen the education ecosystem in India,” Kumar also the chief development officer, said.

Commenting on the partnership, IIT-M Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations) professor Mahesh Panchagnula, said, “WGT and IIT-M have many areas for collaborative growth such as sustainability, artificial intelligence and energy engineering.”

“We are keen to grow this into an impact partnership to benefit a broad cross-section of stakeholders including students and faculty members of IIT-Madras,” he said.

The MoU was signed in the presence of IIT-M alumnus and Walmart Inc Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer, Suresh Kumar, IIT-M Dean-Alumni and Corporate Relations professor Mahesh Panchagnula and US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin.

“I welcome the collaboration between global retail giant Walmart and IIT-M. Industry-academic partnerships are a great way to strengthen higher education and create a highly skilled workforce that can contribute to our mutual economic prosperity,” Ravin said.

Walmart Global Tech and IIT-M would also engage in corporate social responsibility activities in addition to grants that would be made to support faculty research and students with scholarships and fellowships.

WGT would undertake sponsoring events, advertisements and other branding activities to further support, IIT-M said.