At Tractor Supply, investing in an innovation culture drives success

One might not equate a mature brick-and-mortar retailer serving the “rural lifestyle” sector with digital innovation. But that’s exactly what Tractor Supply has built its IT culture around: a zeal for innovation, supported by training and hands-on experience that promote continuous learning and professional growth.

Founded in 1938, Tractor Supply now has more than 2,330 stores in the U.S. and close to $15 billion in annual sales. Its strategic focus is on digital acceleration, which gives its 400-plus IT employees an opportunity to work with cutting-edge tools on state-of-the-art projects. Those initiatives include mobile-first, highly personalized customer experiences and early adoption of OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise to improve a range of business processes.

For example, the IT team developed a suite consisting of custom generative pretrained transformers (GPTs) for specific roles and business needs, including an Emergency Community Response GPT for managing local customer outreach and supply coordination during natural disasters. Another marquee effort was the Cloud Cost Optimizer GPT, which was designed to improve cloud resource management, which has already reduced cloud costs by 20%.

Tractor Supply, the No. 1 large company in this year’s Best Places to Work in IT rankings, cultivates and reinforces its innovation culture through company-wide events as well as a broad spectrum of training and education programs. Tractor Supply IT employees are encouraged to spend time in-store to get first-hand experience in what frontline team members accomplish on a daily basis. Job shadowing lets IT staffers to explore new roles they may be interested in. There are numerous online learning and training initiatives, including a Skills Development Academy that offers targeted workshops on essential topics such as AI or storytelling and business presentation skills.

In addition, Tractor Supply hosts regular hackathons and has forged close partnerships with universities to enrich career development, encourage innovation, and create a pipeline for next-generation talent.

Other opportunities to learn and grow include quarterly town halls and the week-long Learning EXPO-RAMA, a conference-style development experience. At one recent town hall, team members were encouraged to publicly share how they are using AI in their own work. When a public announcement was made that ChatGPT 5 would roll out to the entire organization three days after it was announced, 1,500-plus attendees burst out in rousing cheers, according to Rob Mills, Tractor Supply’s executive vice president and chief technology officer.

“All these vehicles for training and development help our team members drive innovation,” says Mills. “AI is considered a wellness investment we’re making in our future.”

Beyond an innovative mindset, Tractor Supply emphasizes community and family and is grounded by core values such as balance and respect. This pervasive culture serves as a guidepost for IT hiring and keeping employees both happy and engaged.

“It’s all about culture — from how we treat team members to our legendary customer service,” says Mills. “My belief is you hire for compatibility and train for core competencies.”

The best cultural fit for Tractor Supply is individuals who are self-starters and have the curiosity to ask questions and learn the business, Mills says. “For employees with an ability to learn,” he says, “we are willing to invest and teach.”

Explore the Best Places to Work in IT 2026

Best Places to Work in IT 2026 special report

Tractor Supply: Investing in an innovation culture to drive success

CME Group: Taking a hands-on approach to talent development

Data Intensity: Building a hype-free AI culture

About the Best Places to Work in IT program