With 3 Key Statistics, the CEO of Walmart U.S. Just Put Today's Scary World in Perspective

As Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner opened the National Retail Federation‘s conference in New York on Sunday, a saying popped into my head — really, more of a curse — but it quickly made me feel better.

We’re watching in real time as the threat of climate change and natural disasters upend our plans. Every speaker I saw at the “NRF Big Show,” with Furner first among them, rightly paused to acknowledge the devastating wildfires consuming parts of Los Angeles even as they spoke.

There’s the daunting challenge of making sense of artificial intelligence, with company leaders wondering whether it’s worth the hype, and if they’re about to be left behind. (Most of Furner’s presentation was about AI, in the form of an interview with Azita Martin of Nvidia; we’ll get to that below.)

Of course, there’s also the seismic change in the political context, starting with the inauguration — “eight days from now,” Furner reminded everyone — of the once and future president, Donald J. Trump.

“This year will bring more uncertainty, more challenges,” Furner said, before giving a bit of a plug for the NRF itself. “What’s helpful in a time like that is having a very capable team working and advocating on our behalf, and that’s what the NRF does.”

But I’m an old soul at heart, and one thing that helps me find order in chaos is to remember that just because I personally haven’t lived through an experience before doesn’t mean they’re particularly unusual.

Part of this focused on the idea of companies employing Nvidia technology to create “digital twins” of their products and stores, so that they can use AI to iterative what changes would look like much faster than in real life.

“The simplest way I’ve been able to understand ‘digital twin’ is, a video game,” Furner said. “There’s an idea in your head, and a reality you create. … It enables us to not have to move things around physically, or put capital investments on the ground, and gives you a much better chance of success.”

“I would definitely say start. The e-commerce revolution? Those that adapted early became leaders of the industry,” she said, adding that areas of initial focus might include supply chain, computerized simulation technology (like “digital twins”), and e-commerce.

All other things being equal however, I’m always going to cheer for the ideals of entrepreneurship, and for a robust economy that benefits everyone, and the success of American companies in particular.