For Michael Gaiter, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) does not mean handing dealership decisions over to a machine. It means giving GMs better tools to make those decisions. Gaiter, General Manager of Hoover Volkswagen Lithia Springs, joins us on today’s CBT Live segment to break down how dealers can use AI to streamline analysis and uncover opportunities while allowing dealership leaders to spend more time with their people and customers.
During today’s conversation, Gaiter said AI should not be viewed as something that will completely transform a dealership overnight, but rather, he sees it as a tool that can help GMs do their existing jobs more efficiently. He believes that AI can analyze reports, identify opportunities and reduce the time managers spend deciphering data. Yet Gaiter cautions that technology should not become the decision-maker. While dealerships remain complex businesses that require business judgment, experience and leadership, the time AI saves, Gaiter asserts, should be redirected toward developing employees and improving the customer experience.
That people-first approach will become even more important as customers use AI themselves to research vehicles and verify information. Gaiter said future GMs will need to become strong talent developers who can improve their employees’ business acumen and prepare them for increasingly informed customers. Additionally, he expects GMs to become stronger process and systems builders who understand how technology fits into the entire customer journey. Simultaneously, he said leaders cannot lose the human connection as customers ultimately want to do business where they feel safe, welcomed and cared for.
Nevertheless, Gaiter says he is already using AI to create more time for that kind of leadership. He said ChatGPT has become his “best employee,” helping him conduct daily opportunity audits that once required him to arrive at the dealership hours before everyone else. Now, AI can analyze that information before he even gets dressed and deliver it to him during his commute. That efficiency allows him to spend more time walking the dealership, talking with employees and interacting with customers.
For aspiring GMs, Gaiter believes that leaders should learn how to lead and train people, read leadership books, find strong mentors and embrace the failures that come with learning the business.
