Home Depot and Google Cloud launch agentic AI tools for shoppers, Pros and associates

Home Depot and Google Cloud announced at NRF 2026 a set of AI tools built on Gemini: the Magic Apron shopping assistant, an in-store Magic Apron experience with aisle-level locations, AI customer service, and AI-generated materials lists for Pros. The release said AI customer service was already live, the in-store Magic Apron was in testing with a nationwide rollout planned in the coming months, and the materials list was scaling nationally. For traders, this is the company's clearest statement of how it plans to use AI to lift conversion and Pro productivity during a weak housing market.

• Magic Apron assistant answers project questions in plain language, with image upload planned
• AI customer service over chat, SMS and phone was live at announcement
• In-store Magic Apron was in select stores, with national rollout planned in the coming months
• AI materials lists for Pros launched in beta in November 2025 and were scaling nationally in January 2026