Home Depot Deploys AI Voice Agents to Speed Up Customer Support Calls
Home Depot is rolling out AI-powered phone agents across its U.S. stores to handle customer service calls faster. Built on Google Cloud's Gemini conversational AI models, the system understands why customers are calling within 10 seconds and routes them to solutions-or to a human associate-without forcing them through traditional phone menus.
The retailer tested the system across 50 stores. Customers reached solutions four times faster than with conventional phone trees, and associates reported higher job satisfaction because they spent less time on phone routing and more time helping in-store shoppers.
What the System Does
The AI voice agent can resolve common inquiries without human intervention: checking order status, confirming product availability, providing store information, and initiating service requests. It goes beyond information-giving. The system can send product links directly to a customer's cart, help complete purchases over the phone, and even build shopping carts based on how customers describe their projects.
Real-time translation support means customers can interact in their preferred language.
How It Works in Practice
When a customer calls a Home Depot store, they simply explain what they need. The AI agent recognizes their intent immediately and either solves the problem or connects them to an associate. If a customer describes a kitchen renovation project, the system can identify required materials from the store's catalog and populate a digital cart with items in real-time inventory.
Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience at Home Depot, said the shift moves away from "please listen to these options" toward "how can I help?" The system was trained on Home Depot's product catalog and internal knowledge base.
Broader Rollout Coming
Home Depot plans to expand the AI voice agent system to all U.S. stores over the next year. The company is one of several large retailers testing AI for Customer Support to reduce call handling time and free up staff for higher-value work.
The underlying technology-Generative AI and LLM models from Google Cloud-has become viable for this use case because modern language models can reason about customer intent and take action, not just retrieve information.
Your membership also unlocks:
