Many of Wesfarmers’ retail businesses have been exploring the use of AI to drive efficiencies, support team members and enable improved and more personalised customer experiences Bunnings and Kmart teams have been working closely with Microsoft to explore how AI can support operations.
This process has identified ways the divisions can enhance customer service, make team roles more rewarding and grow the business, while aligning with the group’s commitment to innovation and the responsible use of AI.
“At Bunnings, for instance, our team has focused on 34 promising use cases from an initial list of more than 130 possibilities. One of the most developed of these is a new AI-powered information service for our in-store team called ‘Ask Lionel’, which has already been developed and trialled with the aim of providing fast access to data, insights and announcements to help our team better respond to customer queries,” Wesfarmers chief transformation officer, Leah Balter said.
“Bunnings is trialling numerous other innovations too, including using AI to communicate with non-English speaking customers via live chat, delivering more personalised marketing offers and making other content recommendations. Internally, the business is exploring using AI to help answer team safety and payroll queries, onboard new team members and develop training tailored to different stores.”
This approach is being implemented across other Wesfarmers divisions. For example, the group has held several large-scale trials of GitHub Copilot, resulting in over 700 developers now using the AI-assisted programming capabilities.
“Bunnings, Kmart and WesCEF have also enjoyed being early adopters of Microsoft 365 Copilot, driving significant productivity gains across many business functions. Today, the group has over 1,000 Copilot users with plans to expand over the coming year,” Balter said.
Wesfarmers is also piloting Conversational Commerce capabilities, integrating Azure Open AI within a number of digital channels with plans to take these capabilities live to customers in 2025.
“Our group’s retail businesses are also exploring how AI can be used to improve image generation, create and test new product concepts, streamline customer service interactions, analyse complex business data using natural language queries and more easily access the valuable DIY, how-to and other useful information we hold,” Balter said.
“Another key building block is our development of a comprehensive AI operating model and related governance principles. These have been informed by Microsoft’s Responsible AI Standards and provide a framework for responsible AI, including data privacy, security and risk mitigation.
“We are also paying close attention to education and training requirements, in particular our ability to maintain continuous learning and improvement as we introduce AI-powered services and tools across our business. This includes leveraging existing resources and models through the Microsoft Enterprise Skilling and AI Academy programs.”
Wesfarmers CTO, Leah Balter joined the recent Microsoft AI Tour Sydney to share some of the ways that the latest AI advances are being explored and deployed across the Wesfarmers Group.