Grainger
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Grainger AI & Machine Learning Team in Chicago
We are designing, delivering, and operating the digital experiences, tools, and information assets that solve customers’ problems. Our scale presents complex and interesting engineering challenges that are solved by technologists at the top of their game. Alan Cooney, Senior Manager of Applied Machine Learning shares, “Over the past few years, we have integrated ML into many aspects of our customer interactions- all with a focus of making the experience better for our customer’s." David Brenner, Director of Product Management shared similar sentiments, stating, “Grainger’s purpose: We Keep The World Working® is apparent in the way we design, deliver, and operate digital experiences, tools, and information that solve customers’ needs."
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Employee Reviews
As the Grainger Technology Group’s Director of Product Management, David Brenner leverages new and emerging technologies to implement solutions that make the lives of team members’ and customers’ easier. David shares, “Generative AI is the latest frontier we are using to make our processes smarter. Our leadership is making AI a priority to help us achieve 3 main goals: (1) create solutions to better serve our customers, (2) evolve our digital landscape by team members learning new technologies, and (3) develop efficient processes while documenting data.”
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Alan has held several roles in Applied Machine Learning since joining #TeamGrainger 7 years ago. He describes his work as customer experience focused: leading a team that works with advanced machine learning algorithms to discover insights and help Grainger customer’s find what they need. Alan shares, “It feels like a real privilege to be working in machine learning right now, as each week seems to bring a new model or new technique innovations. From our website experience, to call-center support, aiding sellers in the field, and more, our strong data engineering and machine learning operations teams provide crucial support to customers and our business.”
What People Are Saying About Grainger
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Leadership: Leaders in Chicago have been explicit that AI is a top organizational priority to improve customer experiences and operational efficiency, with visible hiring and AI enablement roles based in the city. Feedback suggests executive sponsorship translates into resources for applied ML across search, recommendations, sales/marketing, and inventory tools that are slated to ship in production.
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Learning & Development: Internal accounts describe structured upskilling in Chicago—journal clubs, demos, lunch-and-learns, open forums, hackathons, and time during work hours to learn emerging AI methods. Feedback suggests practitioners are encouraged to stay current on GenAI and MLOps while emphasizing data quality, documentation, and production best practices.
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Innovation & Products: Teams in Chicago emphasize shipping applied, customer-first ML at enterprise scale (search, recommendations, pricing, service, and KeepStock) supported by dedicated ML Platform & Operations capabilities. Feedback suggests the culture prizes measurable customer impact, observability, and reliable deployment over novelty.
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At a glance
driven by data
Grainger leads the way with patented features like visual search and exploring how to utilize 3D object recognition and augmented reality to better serve our customers.
building solutions
Our technology teams build custom capabilities that connect millions of essential businesses to products they need to keep their operations running.
led by vision and passion
We're on a mission to use technology to empower our customers and believe the toughest challenges are best solved through collaboration.
