Mike Gilson, CEO of Conversica, says dealerships are sitting on years of buried data that AI can now unlock. Dealers still running disconnected legacy systems are leaving measurable revenue on the table.
Gilson joins us on today’s episode of Inside Automotive, ahead of his panel at the CBT News Auto Leadership Summit on June 16, to discuss how AI can surface hidden revenue across sales, F&I, and fixed ops, and put that intelligence in the hands of every employee in the store.
What’s hiding in your dealership’s data
According to Gilson, Conversica is a conversational AI platform. The industry has long faced challenges with data trapped in legacy systems, making these systems difficult to navigate and even harder to interpret.
"There's a lot of money that gets buried from just not being able to understand your data at a fundamental level."
Repair orders, sales transactions, and inventory turnover all generate data, but Gilson says it stays buried. Dealerships that can’t get to it end up patching the problem with multiple software tools that don’t talk to each other, which creates a burden on the team.
AI uncovers the details in the data
Gilson says modern AI can solve the hidden data issues without requiring dealers to rip out their core systems. He says it functions as an additional layer that integrates into existing software. The AI uses its intelligence to assign meaning to the data and automatically identify revenue opportunities. Gilson says the DMS (dealer management system) and the CRM (customer relationship management system) have always held this information. However, lies within getting something useful out of them.
Declined services, upcoming lease maturities, and inventory insights are among the signals an AI system can identify and act on.
From there, the system can help schedule service and sales appointments and keep teams ahead of opportunities before they expire. Gilson says timing matters more in the automotive industry than in most other industries.
“A lot of these opportunities are very time sensitive, meaning if you’re not acting on them today, tomorrow, you’re missing very clear revenue opportunities that can make or break a month or a quarter,” said Gilson.
Expanding access
Gilson says one of the biggest issues with dealership technology is that access tends to be concentrated. A small group of users knows how to work the system, while everyone else works around it.
He says AI will change that. Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have shown that powerful technology can be accessible to any user, technical or not. Gilson believes that dealership AI should follow the same design principle, putting that analytic firepower behind a natural language interface anyone on the floor can use.
Ultimately, Gilson says the customer benefits most. When dealership teams can respond faster, act on better information, and engage more personally, the quality of the relationship improves.
“It’s really going to enable a much more personalized way of working for dealerships across the country,” said Gilson.
Gilson will appear on the “Culture, Compliance, and Accountability: Building an FTC-Ready Dealership” panel at the CBT News Auto Leadership Summit on June 16 at the Salamander Hotel. Dealers who have not registered can do so here.
