- Grocery giant Loblaw (TSX:L) is partnering with Shakudo, a Canadian technology company, to better align itself with the benefits of AI.
- Loblaw is Canada’s largest retailer with more than 2,800 locations and more than 220,000 employees nationwide.
- Loblaw stock has added 10.54 per cent year-over-year and 255.35 per cent since 2021.
Grocery giant Loblaw (TSX:L) is partnering with Shakudo, a Canadian technology company, to better align itself with the benefits of AI.
The collaboration seeks to enhance the consumer shopping experience, as well as Loblaw’s organizational capabilities, by leveraging Shakudo’s AI platform to build and run customized applications for its Digital and Technology & Analytics teams.
Shakudo differentiates itself in the marketplace by allowing technologically complex businesses to onboard AI without having to send their data to third parties, combining open-source innovation with enterprise-grade security.
According to Monday’s news release, the deal reflects Loblaw’s “ongoing efforts to increase its capabilities of rapidly deploying advanced systems and building ready-to-use tools internally,” simultaneously “enabling faster development and consistent execution, while maintaining strict governance and oversight,” suggesting a broader demand tailwind small-cap and micro-cap AI companies could potentially capitalize on.
Loblaw posted a strong financial showing in 2025, including higher revenue and earnings, with Q1 2026 results expected to cross the wire on May 6th.
Leadership commentary
“Speed matters, but standards matter more,” Charu Pujari, Senior Vice President of Engineering and AI at Loblaw, said in a statement. “By partnering with Shakudo, we’ve given our teams a common platform to build on – so they can focus on solving real problems instead of reinventing core plumbing. It’s how we scale agentic capabilities responsibly, across many teams, without fragmentation.”
“Loblaw is building exactly the kind of AI-native platform we designed Shakudo for,” added Yevgeniy Vahlis, Founder of Shakudo. “They’re not experimenting at the edges, they’re operationalizing agent orchestration at enterprise scale, with real standards, real workflows and real impact. It’s exciting to see a Canadian company use Canadian AI technology as the backbone of such an ambitious effort.”
About Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw is Canada’s largest retailer with more than 2,800 locations and more than 220,000 employees nationwide. The company specializes in food, pharmacy, healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparel, general merchandise, financial services and wireless mobile products and services.
Loblaw stock (TSX:L) last traded at C$62.72. The stock has added 10.54 per cent year-over-year and 255.35 per cent since 2021.
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