Walmart to lose its chief technology officer shortly after labeling itself tech company

Walmart's Chief Technology Officer Jeremy King will leave the company at the end of March, a few weeks after Mr. King highlighted Walmart's efforts to rebrand as a technology company, CNBC reports.

Mr. King's last day with the company will be March 29, after which he will join Pinterest, a social networking site, as head of its engineering division, according to CNBC. Mr. King worked with Walmart for almost eight years, leading the company's path toward a technology focus.

Mr. King recently highlighted Walmart's latest technology innovations during a presentation March 10 at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. He showcased the company's new virtual reality headsets and machine learning robots, which are designed to fill online grocery orders quickly in stores.

While Walmart pushed ahead with new technology, Mr. King told CNBC, before the SXSW conference, it was a challenge to get people to accept innovations.

"One of the hardest parts [about my job is] people all have their own perceptions of Walmart," Mr. King said. "For years now, I've wanted people to understand we are building a tech organization. I've got a machine learning team. We have some of the best apps in the world."

In the most recent quarter, Walmart's e-commerce sales rose 43 percent. The company also experienced a 40 percent increase in online sales throughout 2018.

Walmart's Senior Vice President of Customer Technology Fiona Tan will fill Mr. King's role in the interim while the company searches for a replacement.

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