The Home Depot recently announced new AI-powered phone agents built with Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience. Built to get customers the help they need faster, the agents allow customers to skip complicated phone menus and be able to solve their problems through natural conversation.

Through the program, customers can simply state the reason for their call in their own words and the system is designed to understand what they need help with immediately. The option to speak directly with a human associate is still available. 

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

The AI voice agents are equipped to resolve common customer inquiries from start to finish, such as checking order status, confirming product availability or providing store information, freeing up Home Depot associates to handle more complex issues. AI agents can also initiate service requests, send a product link directly to a customer’s pre-filled cart and help customers complete a purchase in minutes right from their phones. 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,” says 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.”

Walmart has also recently partnered with Google Gemini to improve customer service.