The Home Depot is launching a new customer service AI voice agent phone system to provide faster support for customer calls to U.S. stores.

The AI agents help with project assistance and answer questions in many languages, while always offering a direct path to Home Depot associates

System is built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience and powered by the latest Gemini conversational AI audio models

LAS VEGAS, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloud Next '26 -- The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today announced new AI-powered phone agents designed to get customers the help they need faster. Built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, the agents allow customers to skip complicated phone menus and get straight to solving their home improvement problems through natural conversation.

Now, when calling a Home Depot store, customers can simply state the reason for their call in their own words. The new system is designed to understand what they need help with immediately, while ensuring they always have the option to speak directly with a human associate. Real-time translations also enable support for customers in any language.

Early results from a 50-store pilot show that AI voice agents understand why a customer is calling in fewer than 10 seconds—getting them to a solution four times faster than navigating traditional phone menus. This allows customers to spend less time on the phone and more time on their projects or jobs. Additionally, Home Depot associates in the pilot also reported higher job satisfaction, with more time to focus on in-store shoppers.

"Nobody likes getting trapped in a phone menu. When a customer calls us, they just want to get help as quickly as possible," said Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of online at Home Depot. "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."

Trained on The Home Depot's vast product catalog and "orange-apron" knowledge, the system can:

• Get answers without the wait: The AI voice agents are empowered to resolve common customer inquiries from start to finish, such as checking an order status, confirming product availability, or providing store information, freeing up Home Depot associates to handle more complex issues.
• Take direct action to save time: The system moves beyond simply providing information, to acting on behalf of customers. For example, AI agents can initiate service requests, send a product link directly to a customer's pre-filled cart, and even help customers complete a purchase in minutes right from their phones.
• Turn project ideas into ready-to-buy carts: Customers will be able to simply describe their projects in their own words, and the AI voice agent will start building a digital shopping cart with all the necessary items based on real-time online or in-store inventory.

"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," said Darshan Kantak, vice president, Applied AI, Google Cloud. "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."

The Home Depot plans to expand the AI customer service voice agent system to support all U.S. stores over the coming year. For more information, visit https://corporate.homedepot.com.

About The Home Depot
The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer. At the end of the fiscal year 2025, the company operated a total of 2,359 retail stores and over 1,250 SRS locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The Company employs over 470,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

About Google Cloud
Google Cloud offers a powerful, optimized AI stack — including AI infrastructure, leading models like Gemini, data management capabilities, multicloud security solutions, developer tools and platform, as well as agents and applications — that enables organizations to transform their business for the Agentic Era. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

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SOURCE Google Cloud