Interview: Lowe’s Senior Vice President of Omnichannel and Ecommerce Neelima Sharma
And its approach is paying dividends. In late February, US home improvement retailer Lowe’s announced fourth quarter earnings ahead of analyst expectations and though the US housing market remains soft, the company continues to expand across categories and into both the personal and professional sectors.
Lowe’s has pursued growth strategies that have included launching a third-party online marketplace to broaden its assortment and partnering with social media influencers. It has carved out its own path by embedding artificial intelligence into its operational and customer interfaces through a platform it has dubbed Mylow.
In an interview at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show, Lowe’s Senior Vice President of Omnichannel and Ecommerce Neelima Sharma described AI as the “connective fabric” of how the DIY giant designs experiences that are deepening its relationship with shoppers.
Mylow stands for “My Lowe’s Intelligence Operator” and has been in use for around 12 months, integrating data across Lowe’s vast retail network. Sharma said that it has been developed as a platform for product discovery, personalisation and creative home design. Its launch has also seen Lowe’s become a digital design partner for homeowners planning renovations and remodels in what can be a complex retail arena.
“Generative AI is moving discovery from finding products to truly understanding customer intent, context, and constraints, and solving problems,” Sharma stressed. “The future of discovery isn’t about being found, it’s about being trusted.”
She points to the fact that consumers typically interact with Mylow for more basic requirements at first but gradually start tasking it with larger projects as they become more confident. That evolution has resulted in a recently launched AI-powered kitchen design service that enables customers to use their own photos and natural-language prompts, receiving instant 3D rendering for visualisations.
“We have taken a very methodical approach toward AI to personalise our customer experience, to help our associates while they sell, and to access the power of all our data sources together and deliver it in a conversational style,” Sharma said.
She also stressed that what can be a complicated process for many homeowners can be simplified by Mylow. It therefore is increasingly seen by users as a trusted partner; she foresees a future where AI will effectively take over not just the project design and procurement but project management, delivery, and installation, scheduling the whole process and managing the logistics.
“Customers set what their expectations are and it’s our responsibility to leverage the technology in a seamless way so that we are able to answer questions the way the customer wants them to be answered,” Sharma said.