Today, we still have more than 300,000 U.S. associates who were with us since 2015 and are now leading teams, running stores and clubs, and continuing to grow their careers. Their stories are a reminder that when people are given opportunity, they make the most of it - and a culture of opportunity creates a cycle where happy associates lead to happy customers and members, and vice versa.

Ten years ago, we committed to investing in our associates through higher wages, new training opportunities, and changes to our scheduling and education programs. It was a step grounded in the belief that putting people first is always the right thing to do. These investments sparked momentum in our stores that we still see and feel today.

So I care what people think, and I like people, and I like employing people and I like creating opportunity for people so I'm pro-people and I want the technology to help us serve people. Of course, we want machines to do what machines are best at, you must and you want to, and at the same time, we should consider the importance of being purpose-driven.

There are all these things that add up into this business that's Walmart that keeps it really interesting. At the root of it all, though, it's a people business and it's a merchandising business. Today, it's increasingly a technology business. The supply chain is critical, of course, and real estate still plays a key role.

Today, Walmart employs about 2.1 million associates. The vast majority of our management team started as an hourly, just like I did. If you walked around here, not just here in Arkansas, but around our company, you would find a lot of people with more than 20 years of service, and you'd find a lot of people who've joined the company to climb up the ladder and create opportunities for themselves.

We continue to invest in wages. So I think that's helping some, and that process will continue. As it relates to AI and the future of employment, I think for the most part, our folks are enthusiastic about it because they've seen new tools that they're receiving that are making their jobs better. That's helping them take fewer steps.