Real AI, Real Opportunity, Real Successes… with some Real Challenges

Written by Lisa Arrowsmith, Chief Product Officer, CitNOW Group

In a world where the hype around AI is deafening, it can be challenging to cut through the noise. It requires careful consideration to decide between what’s truly transformative and what’s just clever branding. As a product leader working closely with automotive retailers, I often hear the same two questions: How do we know which AI solutions will actually help our dealerships become more profitable? And how do dealerships protect their software and process estates from becoming a patchwork quilt of vendors and platforms, as new AI players come on the scene and gain interest from different business stakeholders?

These are very fair and real concerns faced by dealership technologists today. At a high-level, both can be addressed by grounding AI in a strategy that clearly prioritises objectives, defines outcomes, and considers AI tools in the context of the wider technology and platform landscape.

AI Actually Works – But Does it Work Together?

While AI is often discussed in general terms, it’s already making a tangible impact across retailer operations. From using AI to personalise marketing content and optimise customer engagement, to reducing call centre handling, or transforming how stock is priced, AI can offer a smarter, faster, more personalised and more profitable ways to manage your dealerships and delight your customers. However, can you easily adopt what you perceive as “best in breed” across each of these applications in a way that delivers a connected, seamless experience?

The answer to that today depends on the make-up of a dealership’s software estate and the ability – and willingness – of your software providers to partner with you on that journey. At CitNOW Group, we’re targeting an extensive yet specific range of marketing, showroom and workshop workflows where we believe AI can drive the biggest impact – from handling customer communications to operational workshop improvements, or transformational data unification. The landscape of AI solutions – and vendors – is vast and ever-growing, but we partner with our customers – and other vendors – to co-innovate.

Finally, efficient digital journeys and access to a holistic view of data is key to unlocking cross-platform visibility and reduced double-keying, enabling dealerships to take advantage of a range of AI opportunities, driving data-sharing and integration.

Navigating a New – But not Insurmountable – Risk Environment

AI can be transformational for dealerships, but leveraging evolving technologies means navigating new risks. Beyond ensuring AI partners meet your organisation’s tech, compliance, and GDPR requirements, these projects demand deeper scrutiny to define appropriate guardrails. They often involve cross-functional decision-makers, business, IT, legal, and compliance, with final approval at senior levels. Engaging these stakeholders from the outset helps streamline implementation while maintaining a strong focus on risk management.

The concept of “responsible” AI will continue to grow, particularly as consumers are faced with public examples of its misuse, such as deepfake videos. A dealerships’ use of AI must demonstrate that it doesn’t intend to deliberately mislead a consumer, and this is a core tenet to the way we deploy AI at CitNOW Group. Tools like CitNOW Workshop are using AI not to manipulate content, but to ensure quality and consistency of videos. AI assesses workshop videos against OEM or dealer group standards, removing the need for manual checks and speeding up delivery to customers. This builds trust! Customers see high-quality, authentic videos that reinforce transparency. And that trust is critical. One of our guiding principles is that AI should never be used to enhance or alter the vehicle itself in a way that could be perceived as deceptive. Responsible AI is non-intrusive, supportive, and always focused on the customer.

AI as an Ally, not a Silver Bullet

Ultimately, AI offers a powerful means of enhancing the customer experience, streamlining operations, and empowering businesses. When applied thoughtfully, AI becomes a powerful ally driving efficiency, building trust, and creating personalised journeys that meet the evolving expectations of today’s automotive customer.

However, and finally, the old adage holds true – with great power, comes great responsibility. From managing the new but not insurmountable risks, to ensuring the responsible utilisation of a powerful technology, AI can heighten the need for careful foresight in its deployment. Yet by starting projects at a pace that provides visibility and control, alongside a partner who can support an appropriate risk management framework that meets the needs of an increasingly multi-functional set of stakeholders, the opportunities enabled by AI truly are transformational.