Best Buy

How they deploy

Deployment model

Best Buy runs AI through its digital and technology organization under EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer Neal Sample, which owns product management, experience design, data, AI, engineering and platform teams and has overseen Best Buy India in Bangalore, a technology center Best Buy agreed on Oct 1, 2026 to transition to TCS. Best Buy buys the AI platform and models from Google Cloud and builds its own agents on it: internal Best Buy teams build voice and chat agents in Google's CX Agent Studio, according to the Google Cloud case study in which Senior Director of Product Maureen Spence speaks for Best Buy, after Accenture helped build, test and scale the first generative AI capabilities from Apr 2024. Best Buy's customer-facing AI also reaches shoppers through outside platforms, including a ChatGPT commerce integration completed by Aug 2026.

Model providers

Best Buy's generative AI runs on Google's Gemini models: the Apr 2024 announcements named Gemini models, Vertex AI and Contact Center AI, and the Google Cloud case study says a Gemini Flash voice-native audio model drives the automated computer troubleshooting assistant, while Generative Knowledge Assist surfaces troubleshooting documents for human agents during calls. Best Buy has not said which model powers Ask Blue, its AI search on BestBuy.com or the large language models Corie Barry said it uses for customer targeting. Best Buy's work with OpenAI is a catalog, advertising and checkout partnership inside ChatGPT, and its work with Google's Universal Commerce Protocol targets purchases in AI Mode in Google Search and the Gemini app; Best Buy describes neither as an internal model.

Data and infrastructure

Best Buy linked its customer records with knowledge bases of company policies, troubleshooting articles and product repair data on Google Cloud, and stores 100% of logged customer voice and chat interactions in BigQuery, where teams find the products that drive the most support calls and tailor training for human agents (Google Cloud case study). Corie Barry said in Mar 2025 that Best Buy ran text analytics on all of its customer service agents' interactions over the holidays to build a real-time dashboard of contact drivers. A Google Cloud blog post in Jul 2026 said Best Buy was expanding its use of Google Cloud for analytics and AI, and that Best Buy federates employees' Microsoft Entra ID identities into Google Cloud so developers reach BigQuery, including through Power BI, under their own identities. Best Buy named AWS its preferred cloud provider for infrastructure services in Feb 2022, moving retail operations workloads off its on-premises data centers; Best Buy has not said whether any AI runs on AWS or in its own data centers, and its Form 10-K says third parties provide its web hosting and cloud-based services without naming them.

Leadership

AI, data and platform leaders

AI org map

Central digital and technology organization owns data and AI; care AI built by product teams on Google Cloud

Best Buy has no AI chief on its executive team separate from its technology leader: EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer Neal Sample, named in Jun 2025 to succeed Brian Tilzer, leads product management, experience design, data, AI, engineering and platform teams and has overseen Best Buy India, which Best Buy agreed in Oct 2026 to transition to TCS. Aamer Charania heads an applied AI organization, according to AIM Media House. Best Buy reorganized its executive team around Jason Bonfig's four priorities on Jul 14, 2026, and said Sample would keep reporting to CEO Corie Barry until she left on Oct 31, 2026. Risk sits with Chief Legal and Risk Officer Todd Hartman, to whom the CISO reports, and the board's Audit Committee oversees technology risks including AI.

Best Buy has not disclosed how many people work on data and AI. Neal Sample's digital and technology organization covers product management, experience design, data, AI, engineering and platform teams in the U.S. and at Best Buy India in Bangalore, which Reuters reported in Aug 2025 had about 350 staff, mainly in digital and technology roles, and planned to grow to about 500. Best Buy agreed on Oct 1, 2026 to transition Best Buy India and its employees to TCS under a multi-year agreement to turn the center into an AI-native capability center. AIM Media House's 2026 list names Aamer Charania as head of Best Buy's applied AI organization. Best Buy employed about 82,000 people in the U.S. and Canada at the end of fiscal 2026.

Use cases

Best Buy has not given a count of its AI use cases; the ones its executives have named sit mostly in customer care and online shopping, from a Gemini-based virtual assistant, agent tools and AI call routing to AI search, recommendations, personalization, customer targeting with large language models, scam detection, delivery tracking, Ask Blue, an AI agent for employee tools and selling through ChatGPT. Best Buy has reported no business return it credits to AI for any of them: Corie Barry said in Nov 2025 that using AI and more self-serve options in customer support brought a 17% decline in customer contacts in Q3 of fiscal 2026, a volume measure given with no cost or headcount figure, and Best Buy has given no firm-level figure for AI's financial effect.

Adoption

Best Buy has spread AI through customer-facing systems first: an AI-powered personalized app home screen from May 2024, a generative AI virtual assistant and care agent tools on Google Cloud from 2024, AI search on BestBuy.com in 2025, and Ask Blue in 2026. Best Buy said in Mar 2025 that self-service adoption had doubled, with nearly 50% of customers managing memberships by phone without an agent. Best Buy has not reported how many employees use AI tools: Corie Barry described an AI agent for employee tools in Mar 2026, the Sep 2026 corporate responsibility report says employees must complete Responsible AI training before getting enhanced versions of AI tooling, and the store employee assistant announced in Apr 2024 has no published rollout.

By the numbers

Economics & controls

Recent signals

1. Oct 1, 2026

   Best Buy and TCS agreed to transition Best Buy's technology center in India to TCS under a multi-year agreement, with Best Buy India employees joining TCS and the center to become an AI-native capability center.

   Futurum

2. Sep 24, 2026

   PYMNTS reported, from Google Cloud's case study, that Best Buy's Gemini-based care assistants raised the share of calls resolved without a human by more than 50% and cut transfer rates 1.5% to 2%, figures not independently verified.

   PYMNTS

3. Sep 14, 2026

   Best Buy said customers can find gift ideas and complete Best Buy purchases inside ChatGPT this holiday season.

   Best Buy

4. Sep 2026

   Best Buy's corporate responsibility report for fiscal 2026 said employees must complete Responsible AI training before getting enhanced versions of AI tooling.

   Best Buy CR&S report

5. Aug 27, 2026

   Jason Bonfig announced Ask Blue, a conversational AI shopping and support assistant in phased rollout, and said Best Buy had completed a commerce integration with OpenAI for purchases inside ChatGPT.

   Q2 FY2027 earnings call

6. Aug 2026

   Jason Bonfig told CNBC that agentic commerce and commerce through AI platforms are already sending Best Buy traffic, and that Best Buy wants its experience represented there.

   Retail Customer Experience, citing CNBC

7. Jul 28, 2026

   A Google Cloud blog post co-written by a Best Buy cloud engineering manager said Best Buy was expanding its use of Google Cloud for analytics and AI and had federated its Microsoft Entra ID identities into Google Cloud for developer access.

   Google Cloud blog

8. Jul 14, 2026

   Best Buy reorganized its executive team around Jason Bonfig's four priorities, naming a chief strategy and growth officer and a chief revenue officer, while Neal Sample kept reporting to Corie Barry until Oct 31.

   Best Buy

9. May 28, 2026

   Jason Bonfig said Best Buy will keep partnering with AI companies such as OpenAI and Google and stay a human-powered company, and CFO Matt Bilunas named customer care among the fiscal 2027 cost opportunities.

   Q1 FY2027 earnings call

10. Apr 30, 2026

    Best Buy's proxy statement said its Audit Committee oversees technology risks including AI, and that 10% of fiscal 2026 annual incentives rode on strategic areas including accelerating the use of technology and data.

    2026 proxy statement

11. Apr 22, 2026

    Best Buy said Jason Bonfig will succeed Corie Barry as CEO on Nov 1, 2026, with Barry staying on as a strategic advisor for six months.

    Best Buy

12. Mar 18, 2026

    Best Buy's Form 10-K warned that failing to execute a focused AI strategy could hurt profitability and made agentic shopping journeys with platform partners a fiscal 2027 digital priority.

    Form 10-K

13. Mar 12, 2026

    Corie Barry told the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference that an employee had rebuilt Best Buy's employee tools as an AI agent and that Best Buy uses large language models to target customers, including lapsed ones.

    Digital Commerce 360

14. Mar 3, 2026

    Corie Barry said Best Buy had put its catalog in ChatGPT as an early OpenAI ads partner, was building purchases in Google's AI Mode and Gemini through the Universal Commerce Protocol, and had launched native checkout with Wizard.

    Q4 FY2026 earnings call

15. Nov 25, 2025

    Corie Barry said Best Buy's use of AI and more self-serve options in customer support brought a 17% decline in customer contacts in the quarter, and that Best Buy uses AI in scam detection, email marketing, product search and recommendations.

    Q3 FY2026 earnings call

Quick answers

How does Best Buy deploy AI?

Best Buy deploys AI mainly in customer care and online shopping: Gemini-based care assistants built on Google Cloud with Accenture since 2024, AI search and personalization on BestBuy.com and its app, and Ask Blue, a shopping and support assistant in phased rollout since Aug 2026. Best Buy also sells inside ChatGPT. Best Buy has reported no cost, revenue or headcount return it credits to AI and has not said how many of its employees use AI tools.

What does Best Buy use AI for?

Best Buy has not given a count of its AI use cases; the ones its executives have named sit mostly in customer care and online shopping, from a Gemini-based virtual assistant, agent tools and AI call routing to AI search, recommendations, personalization, customer targeting with large language models, scam detection, delivery tracking, Ask Blue, an AI agent for employee tools and selling through ChatGPT. Best Buy has reported no business return it credits to AI for any of them: Corie Barry said in Nov 2025 that using AI and more self-serve options in customer support brought a 17% decline in customer contacts in Q3 of fiscal 2026, a volume measure given with no cost or headcount figure, and Best Buy has given no firm-level figure for AI's financial effect.

Who leads AI at Best Buy?

AI at Best Buy is led by Neal Sample (Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer); Aamer Charania (Head of Applied AI); Maureen Spence (Senior Director of Product). Ownership of AI on the org chart: EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer Neal Sample, whose remit includes data and AI.

What AI platform does Best Buy use?

Best Buy runs its customer care AI on Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, where its own teams build voice and chat agents in CX Agent Studio, and began a phased rollout of Ask Blue, a conversational shopping and support assistant on BestBuy.com, in Aug 2026.

Which AI models does Best Buy use?

Google Gemini models power Best Buy's customer care assistants, including a Gemini Flash voice model in the phone troubleshooting assistant; Best Buy has not named the model behind Ask Blue or its AI search, and its OpenAI work is a commerce integration in ChatGPT.

How many Best Buy employees use AI?

Best Buy's AI reaches customers by phone, on BestBuy.com, in its app and in ChatGPT; Best Buy has not said how many of its roughly 82,000 employees use AI tools, though Corie Barry described an AI agent for employee tools in Mar 2026 and staff need Responsible AI training before getting enhanced AI tooling.

How far has AI spread at Best Buy?

Best Buy sits in Experimenting because it has reported no business return it credits to AI: Corie Barry said on Nov 25, 2025 that using AI and more self-serve options in customer support brought a 17% decline in customer contacts in Q3 of fiscal 2026, a volume measure given with no cost or headcount figure, and the record-low cost per customer contact she reported in May 2025 came from conversational AI, upgraded phone systems and other efficiencies together, with no AI share separated. Best Buy has not reported a company-wide AI rollout with a user count either: it has not said how many of its roughly 82,000 employees use AI tools, though EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer Neal Sample's remit covers data and AI. Best Buy would reach Piloting with one cost, revenue or headcount return it credits to AI, such as a dollar saving from AI in customer care, or an official count of employees using its AI tools.

Open questions

• Which models power Ask Blue and Best Buy's AI search, who built them, and do they run on Google Cloud like the customer care assistants?
• How many Best Buy employees use AI tools, including the agent for employee tools Corie Barry described in Mar 2026, which tools sit behind the enhanced AI tooling that requires Responsible AI training, and did the store employee assistant announced in Apr 2024 launch?
• What does Best Buy spend on AI, including Google Cloud, Accenture, the TCS agreement and its agentic commerce integrations?
• What cost or headcount savings, if any, came from the 17% decline in customer contacts in Q3 of fiscal 2026 and the record-low cost per contact, and how much of each is AI rather than phone system upgrades and other changes?
• What business return do Best Buy's deployed AI tools deliver, such as the customer care assistants, AI search, personalization, customer targeting with large language models, scam detection, delivery tracking and Ask Blue?
• How much revenue reaches Best Buy through ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, the Gemini app and Wizard?
• Where does Neal Sample report under Jason Bonfig, what does Aamer Charania's applied AI organization own, and will Bonfig name a dedicated AI leader?
• How many people work on data and AI at Best Buy, and how much of that work moves to TCS with Best Buy India?
• Does any Best Buy AI run on AWS, its preferred infrastructure cloud since 2022, or in its own data centers?
• Has AI in customer care changed care staffing levels, and how many care agents use the generative AI agent tools?

Sources