“Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination.”

—Daniel Bell, Sociologist and Journalist

The New Digital Workforce

Agentic systems are designed to complete tasks from start to finish. They gather information, make decisions based on context, and take action across your existing software.

They aren’t perfect, of course. But for dealerships, this means real potential to reduce busywork, improve speed, and support staff in both customer-facing and behind-the-scenes tasks.

Where the Impact Is Happening

Industries with complex operations are already seeing strong returns.

• Transaction cycle times are decreasing from days to minutes.

• Companies are reporting operational cost reductions between 30-50%.

• A truck OEM saw a 40% increase in order volume after using agents to support sales prospecting.

• McKinsey projects that agentic AI could create up to $650B in annual value across advanced industries by 2030.

What It Takes to Get Started

1. Well-Defined Workflows
Agents perform best when the task has structure. Workflows that follow a clear sequence with predictable decision points are ideal for early adoption.

2. Connected Systems
CRMs, DMS platforms, scheduling tools, and communication channels need to be accessible. If systems are siloed or manually updated, agents will have limited reach.

3. Keep a Human on Deck
Set guardrails. Make sure your service manager or GSM sign off before anything customer-facing goes out. Trust the system, but verify it early on.

4. Track Your Progress
Is it saving time? Boosting response rates? Reducing errors? Know what success looks like so you can prove it and scale.

Agentic AI doesn’t require detailed proposal or a big strategy deck to get going. It just needs a process, a plan, and someone with a little patience willing to test what happens when you stop doing everything manually.

Start small. Build smart. Let the agents handle the rest.

Here’s the reality: agentic AI can’t natively log into your CRM or DMS. It has to connect through structured pathways like APIs, webhooks, or middleware.

If those things sound like gobbledygook to you, this prompt will help you get getting started by getting the AI to explain how to set up integrations for the specific platform(s) your dealership uses:

Once you’ve got your steps, try it out on one simple workflow like pulling lead info or setting appointments. It’s a quick way to see how an agent can take repetitive clicks off your plate and give your team more time for the work that actually drives revenue.

• Management & Operations: LangGraph
  A tool that helps users build AI agents that can follow complex workflows and make decisions along the way. It lets you design workflows step-by-step, so the agent knows what to do, when to ask for help, and how to complete real-world tasks.
   

• Marketing & Advertising: BirdEye
  A reputation and customer‑experience platform built to manage online reviews, listings, social content, and customer feedback all from one dashboard. It uses AI agents to request reviews, respond to feedback, and spotlight customer sentiment.
   

• Data Management: AutoDev
  Offers developer-friendly APIs that deliver automotive data—like VIN decoding, vehicle listings, photos, recall alerts, payment estimates, and total cost of ownership—from a single platform. It powers real-time, data-driven dealership tools by enabling secure, structured access to core vehicle information and market insights.
   

• Content Creation: Adobe Firefly
  A multi-use AI tool that creates studio-quality sound effects using text prompts, voice input, or both. You can describe a sound like “thunderclap,” record a matching vocal cue for timing and energy, then choose from a few generations to find the perfect fit.

Nick Askew joins Kyle to share how a late-2023 shift turned AI from novelty into a real workflow partner for marketing, BDC, and the showroom.

They get specific on cleaning CRM messes, standardizing data and APIs, and why quiet background agents that set appointments, update records, and prep reports will drive the biggest gains.

You also get a peek at Space Auto’s roadmap and a checklist you can use this week.

Tune in for practical wins you can deploy before the next sales meeting.

• Anthropic has agreed to pay authors $1.5B to settle their AI copyright infringement lawsuit. 💸

• Walmart is partnering with OpenAI for employee training. 🧠

• Thirty research students were asked to reimagine what a start-up would look like if AI were embedded from day one, and the results were “inspiring, disruptive, and sobering.” 👨‍🔬