Ross Gagliano, 26, is operations manager at Genesis Automotive Group in St. Clair Shores, Mich., where he built an AI-powered reporting system that pulls data from all three of the group’s dealerships into one secure layer with no personal customer information in it, so the group can analyze performance across stores on demand.
Ross grew up in the family dealership business and worked in it through college and into his career. He started in IT support, as a service porter, shooting inventory photos and as a sales porter, then moved into digital marketing, business development, sales and sales management. Today he oversees retail operations and back-end functions for the group’s three dealerships and a team of 100.
The reporting system combines DMS, inventory and CRM data. He says it has sharpened the group’s marketing decisions, staff analysis, inventory ordering and used vehicle sourcing.
He also led the turnaround of a recently acquired dealership, which has posted consecutive years of year-over-year sales growth and higher gross profit despite OEM headwinds and a used vehicle market disrupted by FTC regulatory changes.
Ross says he stays close to the ground level, mentoring and learning from every team member and helping them work through personal stressors.
“Focused, supported employees perform better, which benefits both them and the business.”
