Home Depot Deploys AI Phone Agents to Free Store Associates
Home Depot is rolling out AI-powered phone agents across its U.S. stores to handle routine customer calls, allowing associates to focus on in-person shoppers. The system, built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise platform, launches this year across the retailer's 2,000-plus locations.
Store phone calls have pulled associates away from customers browsing aisles. The new voice agent understands what customers need without forcing them through menu trees, resolving requests four times faster than traditional automated systems.
How the system works
Customers describe their issue in plain language, and the AI agent grasps their intent within seconds. The system can recommend shopping lists for specific projects, build digital carts, and help complete purchases. When customers prefer speaking to a person, they can request a human associate at any point.
Home Depot trained the system on its product catalog and internal project knowledge. Google's conversational AI models handle the natural dialogue required to understand nuanced questions beyond basic store information.
Why Google's technology
Home Depot selected Gemini Enterprise after testing it alongside other solutions. The platform integrates with Home Depot's existing systems-a mix of co-created technology with Google and proprietary tools-without requiring major infrastructure overhauls.
Reliability and scale were deciding factors. The system needs to handle call volume across thousands of stores consistently.
What changes for employees
Associates in pilot stores reported higher job satisfaction after the rollout. Removing routine inquiries from their workload lets them spend time solving problems for customers in the store, not on the phone.
Home Depot said it develops AI only when customers signal a need. Future projects will follow the same principle: improving the customer experience, not pursuing technology for its own sake.
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