Home Depot rolls out AI voice agents across US stores

The Home Depot has launched AI voice agents for customer calls to its US stores after a pilot found the system identified the reason for a call four times faster than traditional phone menus.

Built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, the system lets callers explain their request in natural language instead of navigating menu options. Customers can still choose to speak directly with a store associate.

The phone agents can help with project-related questions, order status, product availability and store information. They can also support callers in multiple languages through real-time translation.

Pilot results

In an initial 50-store pilot, the AI voice agents understood why a customer was calling in fewer than 10 seconds. Home Depot said that cut the time needed to reach a solution compared with standard automated menus and gave store staff more time to focus on shoppers in person.

The retailer is also using the system to carry out tasks rather than simply answer questions. The agents can initiate service requests, send product links to a customer's pre-filled basket and help complete a purchase over the phone.

Another planned use is helping customers assemble a shopping basket for a home improvement project. Callers will be able to describe a job in their own words, and the system will build a digital cart based on online or in-store inventory.

Retail shift

The rollout reflects a wider push by retailers to use conversational AI in customer service, particularly in contact centres and routine transactions. For large store networks, the aim is often to reduce time spent handling repetitive queries while preserving access to human staff for more complex issues.

Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer. At the end of its 2025 fiscal year, it operated 2,359 retail stores and more than 1,250 SRS locations across the US, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada and Mexico, and employed more than 470,000 associates.

Jordan Broggi, Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and President of Online at Home Depot, described the move as a shift away from conventional call routing. "Nobody likes getting trapped in a phone menu. When a customer calls us, they just want to get help as quickly as possible," he said.

Broggi said the technology was already handling customer intent and task completion. "Using customer service AI voice agents, we're moving away from 'Please listen to these options' and toward 'how can I help?' AI does a tremendous job at recognizing customer intent and taking direct action to help complete a purchase or even start a service request. And of course, if they need to speak with an associate, we'll quickly connect them," he added.

Google Cloud framed the deployment as an example of how large retailers are applying generative AI in customer interactions. Darshan Kantak, Vice President, Applied AI, Google Cloud, said the system goes beyond standard call routing.

"The Home Depot is a prime example of how retailers and large enterprises can use AI to move beyond automation and deliver real customer value at scale," Kantak said.

"By integrating Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience capabilities, The Home Depot isn't just directing traffic or routing calls, it is instantly understanding a customer's true intent and applying the reasoning of an expert associate to find solutions," he added.

Home Depot plans to extend the AI voice agent system across all US stores over the coming year.