Agentic AI is poised to change not just how customers search and shop, but how they interact with brands.
Home Depot is acting now, rather than staying in “wait-and-see mode,” in order to learn about how AI and its use cases will evolve, CIO Angie Brown told CX Dive at the National Retail Federation Big Show earlier this month. Not even the biggest companies know where consumer behavior and expectations will end up as AI matures.
“It's really critical that we are part of the learning experience with them, and we have that information on what the customers are engaging with, what they're not, and what resonates the most,” Brown said.
Home Depot’s exploration of AI includes studying how it can maintain its brand voice when customers reach it through chatbots and the best practices for offering transparency when the technology is in use.
Even if AI agents lead to a better experience, that experience won’t necessarily be one that builds customer relationships. Home Depot is taking steps to ensure it’s offering customers the same quality of experience through AI channels while building trust in the technology.
Knowledge represents the brand
Without proper planning, customer interactions with AI agents can reflect the chatbot's, not the brand's, voice.
Home Depot’s solution to this problem starts with ensuring that its AI agents are held to the same standard as an in-store associate, according to Jordan Broggi, president of online and EVP of customer experience.
“Anyone who puts on an orange apron, including an AI experience, represents our brand well,” Broggi told CX Dive. “For 45 years that brand has, among other things, represented great customer service and helpfulness.”
Customers expect the retailer to be an authority on their home improvement projects, and that level of customer service needs to carry over to AI-powered interactions, according to Broggi.
The company is working to ensure its knowledge base is embedded in its AI experiences, including the data it shares with partner companies, according to Brown. Home Depot doesn’t want to rely on the power of existing large language models and AI providers alone.
As a result, the amount of data necessary for a good agentic experience is well beyond what the brand needs to provide for traditional keyword-based search.
“It's not just the same as a simple query,” Brown said. “We're working together to share the information that we have to the point where the interaction feels like a Home Depot interaction.”
The goal is clear, but the journey is still in its early days, according to Brown. Each potential AI partner handles interactions differently, which makes the options for helping the Home Depot experience shine through vary.
“We're continuing to evolve that so that the brand voice shows up the way we want it to,” Brown said.
Transparency builds trust, sets expectations
Transparency is a top of mind topic among consumers, and can be key to winning their trust. Most respondents said they believe brands should always reveal when they are using AI, according to a November Liveops survey.
Home Depot aims to deliver transparency without adding undue friction to its AI experiences, according to Broggi. It’s important that customers know the kind of experience to expect, including potential shortfalls, but shouldn’t slow their journey down.
The company is experimenting with different approaches across its digital and voice platforms using prompts that are clear about the use of AI without pulling the customer out of the experience, Broggi said. The message can be as simple as, “Hey, I’m Home Depot’s virtual assistant.”
“It's a subtle injection to really make sure we're transparent with the customer, but also making the conversation or the experience feel as natural as it can be,” Broggi said.
Part of offering transparency is making it clear that an answer may not be perfect, according to Broggi. While Home Depot has spent a lot of time developing guardrails to prevent outright hallucinations, no technology can deliver perfect answers every time.
Leaning into transparency will help Home Depot build trust, and over time some customers may even come to see AI as a more powerful option for finding answers than the alternatives, according to Broggi.
“It becomes less of a disclaimer, and maybe more of a badge of honor,” Broggi said. “That would be a neat place to get to.”
