Between 1995 and 1999, Walmart’s rivals lifted productivity by 28 percent, while Walmart itself added another 20 percent. Tools like barcodes, electronic data interchange, and Walmart’s Retail Link system, which let suppliers track sales in real time, turned information into corporate coordination. At the same time, Walmart is inventing new ones, such as “agent builders” who design AI tools for merchants. From the WSJ:Yet “until we’re serving humanoid robots and they have the ability to spend money, we’re serving people,” MacMillon said. If so, Walmart, once again, could prove a catalyst for America’s next productivity surge—and sooner rather than later.