Walmart Labs Makes Another Acqui-hire, Brings AI Startup Int.ai Onboard

After the high-profile acquisition of Flipkart and Bengaluru-based mobile analytics startup Appsfly.io, Walmart Labs India acqui-hired another Bengaluru AI and data analytics startup Int.ai. This startup founded in 2016 by Vinay Kumar NP and Praneeth Doguparthy will soon join Walmart’s health and wellness portfolio under Customer Technology at Walmart Labs. This is a second acqui-hiring move after Appsfly which was acquired in September and the six-member team joined Walmart Labs customer experience engineering group. According to Int.ai, the startup is on a mission to develop an AI-powered personal data analyst which can give insights that will impact business metrics. In addition to this, the three-year-old startup also built an enterprise data platform and at Walmart, the startup’s analytics automation framework will bolster the US retail major’s product innovation, news reports indicate. According to Hari Vasudev, Country Head & Vice President of Technology, Walmart Labs India, “We are glad to welcome the Int.ai team to the Walmart Labs family and believe their expertise will be a great addition to our data analytics capabilities. We look forward to building awesome customer experiences with this team by creating opportunities and bringing value to our customers around the globe”. The move is aligned with Walmart Labs India’s plan of beefing up its headcount to more than 1000 employees in the technology sector. Close on the heels of Flipkart acquisition, Walmart has doubled down on India which offers a vibrant startup ecosystem. India’s vast talent pool offers the US major to develop world-class solutions to strengthen its product capabilities and rival Amazon.