AI is fundamentally changing retail, and we're now entering what strategists call the agentic commerce era.
Meaning, auto retailers are moving beyond simple digital tools to AI agents that can handle complex, multi-step actions on their own across every customer touchpoint.
Driving the news: AI conversion and communications platform Podium has been helping dealers optimize lead conversion for years. And now, with the launch of Jerry 2.0, it's removing business constraints that used to be impossible to solve.
Customers can now see Jerry's "thought process," showing which policies, data, and validation checks it ran.
Business owners can "coach" their AI using plain English.
Jerry 2.0 also handles specialized workflows on its own, like qualifying trade-ins, answering financing questions, and scheduling test drives.
Under the hood: Think of Jerry 2.0 as a set of AI-driven conversation flows built for dealership tasks, all coordinated by a system that connects to dealer's’ core platforms.
It watches incoming queries across channels, figures out what the customer is trying to do, and runs a "playbook" that breaks the task into steps.
Guardrails and escalation triggers make sure sensitive situations, pricing commitments, or high-value deals get handed to a real person.
What they're saying: "We learned that what makes a great AI employee is the same as what makes a great human employee. They're great at their job, they know your business, they know the playbooks, they follow them, and they're coachable,” said Eric Rea, co-founder and CEO of Podium.
Eric Rea
Podium
“Every business is different, and transparency is the number one thing every single one of our customers wants in their AI employee," he added.
By the numbers: Recently, OpenAI (the AI deployment company behind ChatGPT) released a case study validating the efficiency gains dealers are seeing with Jerry.
Podium's AI agents are live in over 10,000 businesses and see, on average, a ~30% revenue lift and 45% better lead conversion.
On top of that, 40% of customer inquiries come in after hours when nobody's around at the dealership.
Jerry users generate responses to those customers in about two minutes. Meanwhile, the typical human reply takes over two hours.
Why it matters: Dealerships have always been limited by human capacity, including how many calls staff can answer, how many customers they can help, and how many hours they’re open. Those limits create a playing field where even inefficient stores can still compete. But AI is blowing those limits apart.
Case in point: Andrew Reagan, director of eCommerce at Southtown Auto, had 4,000 to 4,500 monthly leads flooding in across two rooftops, with only six people to handle them.
"You do the math," he said. "It's impossible…and speed is our biggest weapon when it comes to engaging customers."
But after bringing on Jerry, time-to-lead across both stores got cut in half.
Reagan credited a lot of that to the platform's integration with OpenAI's real-time data.
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The elephant in the room: Yes, AI is great at doing more with less. It speeds things up, cuts repetitive work, and buys time. But AI alone likely can't create the next generation of products and services.
The businesses that win long-term will reimagine how things should work and find breakthroughs that wow customers in new ways. That kind of thinking still only comes from people, like the dealers we talk to every day.
Take Van Horn Auto Group—they've built specialized BDC teams with clear training and processes that deliver results AI can't touch on its own.
Brittney Dean, sales business development manager at Van Horn, is laser-focused on finding hidden revenue opportunities.
Each rep has a daily quota of outbound connections, and they're required to use every tool available to "mine" for past customers.
Dean also split the BDC into teams focused entirely on lower credit-tier consumers and post-sale follow-up.
"What we've found to be kind of the sweet spot is just having AI be the leading point, and then humans take over when needed," explained Tina Tasche, innovation and technology specialist at Van Horn.
Tina Tasche
Van Horn Auto Group
That's what Podium is after; helping dealers create new roles like AI operations leads, redesign call-center functions, and put customer experience specialists front and center.
Bottom line: AI is becoming table stakes. And the early movers are already creating competitive gaps that late adopters might not be able to close.
A quick word from our partner
Stop Settling for AI That Only Does Half the Job
Rather than isolated or scripted tools, Podium’s connected AI supports the full customer journey—from handling inbound sales calls and digital leads to booking service appointments, following up on declined work, and driving repeat visits.
Podium provides customizable playbooks built around your sales and service workflows, enabling consistent call handling, intelligent routing, appointment booking, and follow-up based on your rules, your systems, and your goals.
The result is AI that works like a top dealership employee, delivering consistent results across the entire operation.
