Home Depot deploys AI phone agents to win over shoppers with faster service

By Nina Zdinjak TheStreet

Updated April 25, 2026 7:20 AM

Home Depot's latest move aims to resolve a major customer pain point: wasting time.

After a challenging 2025, due to several consumer boycotts over its decision to cut its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, its alleged cooperation with ICE's immigration crackdown, and price hikes to address tariff pressures, Home Depot has made some major moves to win over shoppers in 2026.

So far this year, the home improvement giant has aggressively expanded its "Pro" ecosystem by launching high-tech tools like an AI-powered Material List Builder and a first-of-its-kind real-time GPS delivery tracker for bulky materials. You can find more information in my previous articles here.

Beyond logistics and upgrades that allow customers to save more time for their actual home improvement tasks, the retailer has enhanced the physical store experience by introducing Wahlburgers' food trailers.

Home Depot's recent moves represent a major strategic shift toward utilizing technological advancement to improve overall customer service and win back shoppers. In the latest development, the home-improvement king has upgraded its customer service, focusing on providing one of the most precious qualities for consumers: speed.

Home Depot speeds up customer store phone support four times

Home Depot announced on April 22 the launch of new AI-powered phone agents designed to get customers the help they need much quicker.

The agents are built on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, enabling customers to skip through complicated phone menus and get straight to solving their home improvement problems, according to the official press release.

Home Depot said that early results from a 50-store pilot revealed thatAI voice agents understand why a customer is calling in just 10 seconds. Thanks to quick understanding, customers are brought to a solution four times faster than navigating traditional phone menus.

The idea behind this upgrade is to allow customers to spend more time on their home improvement projects instead of the phone.

Home Depot AI agents key highlights:

Natural conversation: When a customer calls a store instead of pressing certain buttons and going through a complicated menu, they can just say why they are calling. For example: I need to check if you have a specific lawn mower in stock.
Multiple languages: Real-time translations enable support for customers in their preferred language.
Human associate option: The new system is designed to understand what customers need help with immediately, while ensuring they always have the option to speak directly with a human associate.
Getting answers without the wait: The AI voice agents can resolve common customer inquiries including:

Checking order status. Confirming product availability. Providing store information.
Direct action: The system directly acts on behalf of customers. For example, it can help customers complete a purchase or send a direct link to a customer's pre-filled cart.
Turning project ideas into ready-to-buy carts: Customers can describe projects in their own words, and the AI voice agents will create a digital shopping cart with all the necessary items.

"Nobody likes getting trapped in a phone menu. When a customer calls us, they just want to get help as quickly as possible. Using customer service AI voice agents, we're moving away from 'please listen to these options' and toward ‘how can I help,'" stated Jordan Broggi, executive vice president of customer experience and president of online at The Home Depot.

Sundry Photography/Shutterstock.com

Why Home Depot is using AI and the importance of speed in customer service

Industry data confirms that time is of the essence in customer service and is one of the key drivers of customer loyalty and satisfaction.

When it comes to home improvement projects, particularly, 47% of homeowners have delayed them because of financial constraints, 29% have put off a home renovation due to lack of time, according to a February report by Clever Offers.

Moreover, Home Depot's latest move appears to be in line with consumer demands and expectations when it comes to customer service.

Key customer service statistics:

71% of CRM leaders believe that the current customer service experience takes too much time.
51% of consumers say they prefer interacting with bots over humans when they want immediate service.
90% of the customers rate an "immediate" response to be an important factor when they seek customer service assistance, and 60% of customers define "immediate" to be within 10 minutes or less.
Customer service teams using AI have cut call handling time by 45% and resolved issues 44% faster, resulting in lower operational costs.

Sources: Zendesk, HubSpot, Influx

In addition to lowering operations costs, with the launch of AI voice agents Home Depot is improving in-store customer service as its associates have more time to help people who are physically standing in the store.

Home Depot employees in the pilot program actually reported higher job satisfaction because they weren't tied up with simple phone inquiries all day, the retailer said in the press release.

Home Depot's rival Lowe's recently made a similar upgrade

Home Depot's rollout of AI voice agents comes a few months after its biggest rival, Lowe's, did a similar upgrade.

In February 2026, I reported on Lowe's AI-powered agents, which were specifically designed to handle all incoming customer phone calls to its stores. Lowe's primary goal of this upgrade was to solve a major friction point for both shoppers and employees: the distraction of ringing phones.

While technologies are similar, they also differ in several ways, including the main goal. While Home Depot is more focused on remote efficiency, Lowe's is concentrated on providing better in-store experience, as AI is used to clean up the background noise so that their physical stores feel more helpful and personal for consumers who came in.

Additionally, Home Depot's AI agents are built on Google Cloud Gemini, which uses advanced generative AI for natural, human-like conversation, while Lowe's Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) is focused on containment.

Both giants are investing in AI to improve their operations; however, their strategies are different. Home Depot is taking a more disciplined, execution-first approach. Instead of a total overhaul, the company is implementing AI in specific areas where it is already powerful, writes Zacks Investment Research.

"Internally, Lowe's is using AI to amplify human expertise rather than replace it," points out Zacks.

Balancing operational speed with human connection

While it is reasonable to expect more and more AI implementation in customer service across various industries, not all consumers are open to it just yet. In fact, when assured that AI could resolve their issue, more than 80% still wanted human help, according to Metrigy's Customer Experience Optimization 2025-26 consumer views study.

Moreover, 84.7% of research participants said they would prefer interacting with a human vs. AI agent.

Despite some level of reluctance to rely on AI help, the same study revealed that 46% say they will use them in select circumstances, with the top three being: directing them to the right person (50.4%), shipping/order confirmations (49.6%), and scheduling or rescheduling appointments (46.9%).

"AI is becoming an expected option for speed and convenience, yet trust, ease of use, and immediate access to a human remain the deciding factors in whether customers use it or avoid it," wrote Shep Hyken, customer service & CX expert for Hospitality Net.

At the same time Zendesk reports that when consumers are in a hurry 51% prefer interacting with bots over humans.

Brad Fager, Chief of Research in the Gartner Customer Service & Support Practice, highlights the evolution of AI from cost-cutting to value-driven service.

"AI is no longer just a back-office tool-it's now at the heart of customer service strategy. In a survey of 321 customer service and support leaders from September 2025 through October 2025, Gartner found that 91% of respondents are under executive pressure to implement AI, not just for efficiency, but to directly improve customer satisfaction," Fager said.

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 7:07 AM.