According to Forbes, Lowe’s is undergoing a comprehensive AI transformation under senior vice president Chandhu Nair, who leads the company’s data, AI, and innovation efforts. The home improvement giant, which operates over 1,700 stores and employs approximately 300,000 associates, generated over $83 billion in sales in 2024 while serving 16 million weekly customer transactions. Lowe’s began experimenting with OpenAI technology in early 2021 before ChatGPT’s public launch and has since developed two key AI tools: “Mylow,” an AI-powered home improvement advisor for customers, and “Mylow Companion” for store associates. The company’s AI strategy focuses on three guiding objectives tied to customer experience, associate effectiveness, and business growth, supported by an internal AI university and partnerships with OpenAI and Google. This strategic shift represents Lowe’s evolution from what CEO Marvin Ellison described as a company that “couldn’t print an e-receipt in the store” seven years ago to an organization aiming to become “AI-native” within three to five years.
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The Legacy Retail Transformation Challenge
What makes Lowe’s AI journey particularly noteworthy is that they’re attempting this transformation in one of retail’s most complex sectors. Home improvement involves thousands of SKUs, complex project planning, and significant customer education barriers. Unlike fashion or electronics retail where AI recommendations might suggest complementary items, home improvement AI must provide technically accurate advice that could literally prevent someone’s plumbing project from flooding their house. This creates both immense opportunity and substantial risk for early movers like Lowe’s. The company’s decision to focus on three guiding principles rather than “1,000 use cases” reflects a maturity in understanding that successful AI implementation requires strategic focus rather than scattered experimentation.
The 70% Change Management Imperative
Perhaps the most insightful aspect of Lowe’s approach is their recognition that technology represents only 30% of the challenge, while change management accounts for the remaining 70%. This aligns with what we’ve seen across multiple industries undergoing digital transformation. For a company with 250,000 store associates, many of whom have built careers on traditional retail skills, introducing AI tools requires careful navigation of organizational psychology. The partnership with OpenAI and Google to provide enterprise ChatGPT access without expectations represents a smart “sandbox” approach that allows employees to build comfort gradually. However, the real test will come when these tools begin to fundamentally change job roles and responsibilities, potentially creating resistance from both frontline workers and middle management.
Capturing the Generational Shift Opportunity
Lowe’s timing appears strategically sound as homeownership transitions from Baby Boomers to digitally-native Millennials and Gen Z. These younger homeowners have different expectations for how they access expertise and plan projects. The ability to visualize bathroom or kitchen designs through generative AI addresses a fundamental pain point in home improvement—bridging the gap between imagination and execution. However, this also creates new competitive dynamics. Lowe’s Mylow virtual advisor must compete not just with Home Depot’s offerings but with a growing ecosystem of home design apps and platforms. The risk is that by the time Lowe’s perfects its AI capabilities, customers may have already formed habits using third-party tools.
The Responsible AI Implications for Retail
Lowe’s establishment of an AI Governance Committee involving Finance, Legal, and HR reflects the serious consideration they’re giving to responsible AI implementation. The example Nair provides about pet-safe weed killer illustrates the very real consequences of AI errors in this industry. Unlike a streaming service recommending the wrong movie, an AI home improvement advisor suggesting incompatible materials or unsafe techniques could lead to property damage or personal injury. This level of accountability requires robust guardrails that many consumer-facing AI applications can avoid. The company’s approach of requiring governance approval for every use case, while potentially slowing innovation, represents necessary caution in an industry where mistakes have tangible consequences.
The Emerging Competitive Landscape
Lowe’s early partnership with OpenAI, beginning in early 2021 before ChatGPT’s public launch, gave them a significant head start in understanding generative AI’s potential. However, the home improvement AI race is just beginning. We’re likely to see specialized AI startups emerge focused specifically on home project planning, material estimation, and design visualization. The strategic question for Lowe’s will be whether to build, buy, or partner as these technologies mature. Their Innovation Labs in Seattle and Charlotte provide a mechanism for scanning emerging technologies, but the pace of AI advancement may require more aggressive acquisition strategies to maintain their early advantage.
Long-Term Industry Implications
The success of Lowe’s associate-focused AI tools could fundamentally reshape retail employment in the home improvement sector. If AI can effectively handle basic customer questions and project guidance, human associates may shift toward more complex consultation and installation services. This represents both an opportunity for higher-value roles and a challenge for workforce development. The company’s massive scale—300,000 employees across 1,700 stores—means their approach to AI-driven organizational change could become a blueprint for other legacy retailers. However, the 3-5 year timeline for becoming “AI-native” seems ambitious given the complexity of transforming store operations that Nair acknowledges “have really not changed in the last 30-40 years.”
