QXO announced on Thursday that Ashwin Rao has been appointed chief artificial intelligence officer, effective immediately, and will serve as the company’s principal AI architect. 

As the company continues to put the pieces in place to become a leader in the building products distribution industry, Rao’s appointment is a nod to how deep company founder Brad Jacobs plans to incorporate technology into his new venture.

“Artificial intelligence will permeate everything we do at QXO, including demand forecasting, inventory management and e-commerce,” Jacobs, QXO’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a Nov. 11 news release. “Ashwin is recognized as one of the brightest minds in enterprise AI.”

Jacobs, a serial entrepreneur who has built multibillion-dollar companies in logistics and other sectors through acquisitions, said Rao will be instrumental in making QXO “the most tech-forward company” in the industry.

Rao’s onboarding is a pretty big deal in the world of tech. Over a 30-year career, his previous position before QXO provides insight into Jacobs’ attraction to the tech maven. From 2016 through 2022, Rao served as the first-ever head of AI for Target Corporation.

At Target, Rao led a team that developed mathematical models for pricing, merchandising, customer experience, supply chain logistics and other business functions. Joe Checkler, a QXO spokesman, said Rao’s application of AI helped Target rebuild its entire supply chain.

“He also led the initiative to build AI into Target’s core retail business, overhauling the product recommendation engine, which generated billions of dollars of revenue for the company,” Checkler said in an email. That overhaul helped generate billions of dollars of revenue for the retailer.

For QXO, Rao is tasked with building a team of roughly two dozen data scientists who will plant stakes in Palo Alto, Calif., to create the company's AI function.

According to QXO, Rao's work will span the entire company, from route optimization in transportation to robotics and automation in the warehouses to supply chain optimization. Rao and his team will use AI-based inventory management systems to ensure accurate, optimized, and timely deliveries.

“The opportunities to use AI to transform the building products distribution industry are endless,” Rao said. “I’m excited to get started on dozens of AI workstreams that, combined with advantages of scale, will help QXO increase efficiency, optimize supply chains and add value for our customers.”

Rao began his career on Wall Street as a derivatives trading quant strategist with Goldman Sachs and later as managing director of market modeling for Morgan Stanley. He earned a doctorate in theoretical computer science from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He also serves as an adjunct professor of applied mathematics at Stanford University.

QXO's Checkler added that the contractors and homebuilders the company surveyed while preparing to begin acquisitions, “…the most important thing for them is to get their orders in full, on time and intact,” he said, adding, “Ashwin and his team will use AI-based inventory management systems to meet that standard.”

QXO plans to become a tech-forward leader in the $800 billion building products distribution industry and intends to target tens of billions of dollars of annual revenue in the next decade through accretive acquisitions and organic growth. 

For more information, visit QXO.com.