By Isabelle Bousquette

Artificial intelligence and improved technology will be central to Target's recovery after several years of sluggish performance, said Prat Vemana, the retailer's chief information and product officer.

The company plans to invest about $6 billion this year in its stores, workers and technology to turn the tide.

Chief Executive Michael Fiddelke, who took the helm in February, told investors earlier this month that Target had lost its way. The company has struggled to boost sales in recent years as shoppers have complained of messy stores, high prices and less exciting products.

"Tech is a throughline in Michael's priorities," Vemana said.

AI tools that help designers speed trendy merchandise to market faster, better algorithms for forecasting sales, and continued investment in agentic commerce partnerships with companies like OpenAI and Alphabet's Google are all part of the plan.

Target's tech team is made up of a few thousand people, Vemana said. Solving the challenges around merchandising and demand forecasting are now their top priorities, he said.

Jumping on trends

Vemana said he is building out Target Trend Brain, an AI tool aimed at helping the company's designers sort through vast amounts of data from runway shows, social media and written reports to analyze the trendiest colors, patterns and cuts. Designers can also prompt the tool in natural language for help with initial versions of designs.

"As a designer, now I can not only easily pick the colors and contours that I want, but now I can say, well, what kind of fabric will work for it? And then I can have AI help me reimagine designs very quickly. What would have taken weeks now will take hours," Vemana said.

That speed will be critical in helping Target respond faster to trends, he added. The company started testing the tool last year and is now building it out with more data sources and capabilities.

Target has also invested in a "synthetic audience," a growing trend in market research, comprised of digital profiles built from in-depth interviews with real people. The retailer can poll the audience for feedback on style preferences.

Forecasting sales

Vemana is also aiming to use tech to improve the store experience, making sure the right items are in stock at the right times.

Target uses advanced analytics models to forecast demand for all its products including apparel, home, electronics, beauty, and food and beverage, he said. Those algorithms work really well for items that have consistent year-round demand, like a box of Cheerios. But for seasonal or trendy items, things are trickier, and the company is looking to improve its forecasting.

"Those things have slightly different variables and that's where the additional work is happening," he said.

Agentic commerce

Agentic commerce is in its early days, but Vemana said he would rather be early and learn than sit back and wait for it to become more mainstream.

"If there's a paradigm shift that's happening, you want to be there in that moment," he said. "And that's why you see us playing in multiple dimensions."

The company has built integrations that allow shoppers to purchase products directly from OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's AI mode or Gemini app. Target has also invested in ads on ChatGPT.

The retailer is working to ensure that external AI shopping agents can purchase products on its website.

At a time of tremendous upheaval for the tech world, the retail world and Target itself, Vemana said that making sure he still has buy-in from his team is another priority.

"Change is not easy for anyone," he said. Hackathons and demo days are one way to make sure the team stays inspired.

"We want our growth curve to get going," he said. "When you have a change in the technology, a change in the retail industry, as well as clarity and strategy and agenda, it's exciting times for us."

Write to Isabelle Bousquette at isabelle.bousquette@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2026 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)

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