Home Depot expands AI tools for shoppers, staff and deliveries

Home Depot is widening its use of artificial intelligence across stores, online shopping, customer service and delivery operations, Fortune reported. The push matters because the retailer is trying to make complex home-improvement purchases easier while giving employees tools to work faster.

Fortune reported that the company’s technology leadership has changed alongside that effort. Franziska “Fran” Bell joined as chief technology officer in April after serving as Ford Motor’s chief data, AI and analytics officer. Angie Brown, a 27-year Home Depot veteran, became chief information officer 11 months earlier, and Jordan Broggi took over as executive vice president of customer experience and the online channel in June 2024.

Brown told Fortune that Home Depot’s AI spending must support three goals: improving merchandising in stores, connecting digital and physical retail, and growing sales to professional customers such as contractors and builders. Fortune reported that those professional customers generally spend more at Home Depot than do-it-yourself shoppers.

AI reaches call centers, code and store work

Among the AI systems now in use or testing, Fortune identified Magic Apron, a generative AI assistant for product questions and review summaries. The retailer is also working with Google Cloud on a customer-service AI system that was tested in 50 stores, where voice agents could identify the reason for a customer’s call within 10 seconds during the pilot, according to Fortune.

Inside the company, Fortune reported that Home Depot has made Microsoft Copilot available to corporate employees and is using Anthropic’s Claude coding tool to speed software development. Machine-learning systems are also being used to improve store associate workflows, according to the report.

Brown told Fortune she does not want to limit AI projects if they address business problems the company has already identified. She also said employee use of AI assistants reflects the broader spread of generative AI in daily life.

Magic Apron gets a pro reset

Broggi’s work includes Magic Apron, which launched in March 2025, according to Fortune. The tool uses Home Depot product information to answer shopper questions and summarize reviews.

Broggi told Fortune the early consumer version was well received, while professional customers disliked the experience. Fortune reported that Home Depot found the web-based tool was asking pros overly basic questions, prompting the company to take the pro version offline while it adjusts the large language models for that audience.

Fortune reported that Home Depot is also preparing to put Magic Apron on employees’ smartphones. Brown said a later version is expected to support multiple languages.

Delivery data and AI shopping platforms

Home Depot is also using an internal system called “order intelligence,” Fortune reported. The system studies past delivery data to score risks, including whether a property may need a gate code or whether a smaller delivery truck would be better suited for a difficult route.

According to Fortune, the system can contact customers about potential issues and provide more precise delivery windows. Broggi told Fortune shoppers are less concerned about the technology behind that process than about receiving complete, undamaged orders on time with clear updates.

The retailer is also preparing for shopping through AI chatbots, Fortune reported. Home Depot lets shoppers buy products through ChatGPT and supports Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, which Fortune described as an effort to create common standards for agent-based commerce.

Broggi told Fortune that retail plans for AI shopping platforms remain unsettled, saying the companies building those platforms have shifted priorities more than once. The work comes as Home Depot faces a softer housing market and cautious consumers, even though the company said fiscal first-quarter net sales rose 4.8% from a year earlier.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.