Customer service transformed by AI at Tractor Supply

Generative artificial intelligence is powering customer service for Tractor Supply Co., the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States.

Tractor’s Glenn Allison and Tom Henkel talk with theCUBE about how AI drives the company’s business results.

The company, which provides farm supplies, pet and animal feed, clothing, tools and fencing in rural communities nationwide, equips employees with a generative AI application called “Hey GURA.” Named after an earlier tech assistant—“GURA,” short for “greet, uncover, recommend and ask”—the app is now available to every Tractor team member through handheld devices and earpieces.

“Every team member has access to ‘Hey GURA’ and they can get product information, product recommendations, product inventory,” said Glenn Allison (pictured, right), vice president of enterprise AI platforms at Tractor. “If you’re a new team member, it can help you learn about where products are located within the state. That’s all centered around enabling our store team members to help customers find what they need. It’s very much a needs-based business.”

Allison spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier and Bob Laliberte at Nutanix .NEXT, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. He was joined by Tom Henkel (left), director of enterprise cloud and infrastructure at Tractor, and they discussed how AI has driven customer service and business results throughout the organization. (* Disclosure below.)

Solid architecture supports customer service

Tractor works with Nutanix Inc. to deploy its generative AI solutions and maintain its node-based infrastructure. A solid IT architecture is needed to support the retailer’s more than 2,300 stores, according to Henkel.

“We’ve got over 200 nodes deployed, and they’re supporting over 4,000 virtual machines in our enterprise infrastructure,” Henkel said. “In that environment, the key is extensibility and to have a solid architecture underneath that we can [use to] respond quickly as the business needs change.”

Tractor’s deployment of AI highlights how edge technology can have a direct impact on the customer experience. The firm’s “Computer Vision” component uses AI to alert team members when a long line is beginning to form at a checkout stand.

“We’ve been able to virtualize point-of-sale, the loss prevention cameras, the AI models that are running on the edge from an edge computing standpoint,” Allison said. “Everything that we do is to help empower our store team members to give that legendary experience each time. From an AI standpoint, enabling our team members with the best technology, it’s all centered around the customer. We’re fully deployed with generative AI across the chain.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Nutanix .NEXT:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Nutanix .NEXT. Neither Nutanix Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE