AI @ Walgreens
Summary
- Since 2019, Walgreens has progressively integrated AI technologies across healthcare services, retail operations, and supply chain enhancements, partnering notably with Microsoft and Nuance to improve personalized patient care and vaccine scheduling.
- Recent advances include adoption of robotic micro-fulfillment centers filling up to 60% of prescriptions by 2025, and strategic use of AI-driven digital twins and demand planning to optimize pharmacy workflows and inventory management, contributing to both operational efficiency and patient experience improvements.
- Walgreens' AI use cases span from conversational AI for appointment scheduling and medication adherence programs yielding up to 9.7% improvements, to supply chain optimization and personalized marketing, reflecting a mature deployment of traditional and generative AI models towards cost reduction, risk mitigation, and enhanced customer experience.
VIBE METER
5 AI Use Cases at Walgreens
Prescription Fulfillment2025
Supply Optimization2025
Demand Planning2023
Medication Adherence2021Customer Facing
Timeline
2025 Q4: no updates
2025 Q3
Walgreens continued leveraging centralized AI and robotic automation to enhance patient care and pharmacist roles, filling 60% of prescriptions via robotic hubs and advancing pharmacy modernization plans.
2025 Q2
Walgreens significantly expanded robotic micro-fulfillment centers to fill thousands of prescription orders across 5000+ stores and partnered with Palantir to utilize digital twins for real-time retail operations visibility.
2025 Q1
Walgreens expanded digital twin technology and robotic automation in pharmacy, focusing on medication management, drug development, and operational optimization for faster prescription dispensing.
2024 Q4: no updates
2024 Q3: no updates
2024 Q2: no updates
2024 Q1
Walgreens leaders forecast 2024 healthcare trends including pharmacies as healthcare hubs and leveraging AI for retail trend forecasting and patient support chatbots.
2023 Q4
Walgreens Boots Alliance adopted an approach to avoid AI vendor hype by integrating AI, chat, and intelligence into service management without increasing headcount or costs.
2023 Q3
Walgreens completed a successful AI-driven transformation from print marketing to advanced demand planning and personalized customer outreach.
2023 Q2
Walgreens teamed up with Freenome and deployed AI/ML-enhanced solutions like Saama for clinical trial automation, alongside demand planning transformation applying AI to retail operations.
2023 Q1: no updates
2022 Q4
Walgreens implemented Digitate's AIOps solution to streamline vaccine scheduling and manage IT support tickets, enhancing operational efficiencies.
2022 Q3: no updates
2022 Q2: no updates
2022 Q1
The Walgreens Boots Alliance IT leadership emphasized leveraging advanced cloud, data analytics, and AI technologies to personalize healthcare services further.
2021 Q4
Walgreens deployed an AI-powered adherence program to target patient adherence with a focus on social vulnerability and mitigating unintended bias.
2021 Q3
Walgreens utilized AI technologies from Phrasee and AllazoHealth to improve email engagement rates and boost medication adherence by 5.5% to 9.7% respectively.
2021 Q2: no updates
2021 Q1
Walgreens partnered with Nuance to deploy conversational AI solutions for COVID-19 vaccine eligibility confirmation and appointment scheduling, providing omnichannel customer engagement options.
2020 Q4: no updates
2020 Q3: no updates
2020 Q2: no updates
2020 Q1: no updates
2019 Q4: no updates
2019 Q3
Walgreens began implementing voice-powered AI technology in stores to enhance in-store experiences for both associates and customers.
2019 Q2: no updates
2019 Q1
Walgreens Boots Alliance established a strategic partnership with Microsoft to integrate AI and data science into healthcare services, aiming to deliver personalized and digitized healthcare experiences.