Walmart uses a proprietary AI system to predict how much of each product customers will buy, at which stores, and when. A connected system called Self-Healing Inventory automatically detects stock problems across the supply chain and reroutes products before shelves run empty — without waiting for a person to notice the issue. Walmart says Self-Healing Inventory has saved the company more than $55 million.

The demand forecasting system uses a multi-horizon recurrent neural network — a type of machine learning model built to handle sequences over time — to predict demand at multiple future points simultaneously. It incorporates historical sales data, online search and page view activity, weather forecasts, macroeconomic trends, local demographics, and seasonal patterns. A notable feature, first deployed for the 2023 holiday season, is the system's ability to "forget" one-time anomalies — such as an unusual weather event — so they don't distort future predictions. Self-Healing Inventory uses agentic AI to let supply chain staff query the system conversationally, ask questions like "What items were shorted in these stores?", and receive instant analysis and recommended corrective actions. The platform is rolling out globally to Walmart operations in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada.