Target pushes deeper AI adoption, reviews usage‑based pricing, India head says

By Haripriya Suresh and Aishwarya Venugopal

BENGALURU, May 25 (Reuters) – Target is moving from “using AI to running on AI,” but a shift in the pricing of the technology by ​its providers is prompting the U.S. retailer to reassess ‌the way it is deployed, its India head told Reuters on Monday.

“It’s about the intentional use and integration of AI rather than deploying it everywhere…,” Target India President Andrea Zimmerman said.

She said there are “significant investments” being made in ‌ensuring ​that teams have the right tools for ⁠their jobs.

AI firms such ⁠as Anthropic and OpenAI are increasingly shifting to token-based pricing that charges customers based on usage, instead of a subscription-based service, reflecting a broader reset in AI economics and raising costs ​for enterprises.

“It is forcing us to re-evaluate our strategy,” Zimmerman said. Discussions around AI pricing are “at the highest level in ⁠both our architecture forums as well ⁠as in our senior leadership forums within technology,” she ​told the Reuters summit in Bengaluru.

Target’s global center in India has verticals ​such as merchandising, digital, stores and supply chain, employing ‌about 5,600 people. About 40% of Minneapolis-based Target’s tech workforce is based in Bengaluru.

In India, the company is looking at ramping up investment in its analytics teams in a bid to turn growing ⁠volumes of data into actionable insights at a faster clip, she said.

“We work to adapt really quickly when we see that consumer demand ⁠or sentiment start ‌to shift,” Zimmerman said.

The retailer has struggled with ⁠three straight years of declining revenue as cost-conscious ​shoppers ‌traded down to cheaper alternatives.

Under new CEO Michael ​Fiddelke, the ⁠company plans to spend an additional $2 billion this year on new stores, remodels, and AI initiatives.

“AI is fun, exciting and interesting to think about,” Zimmerman said. “Change isn’t going to be immediate, and it is certainly not free.”

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Anil D’Silva)