Cox Automotive president Stephen Rowley has urged the auto industry to embrace AI, saying it will improve customer service, efficiency and even vehicles themselves, according to Automotive News (paywalled).
“I don’t think it’s something to be afraid of,” Rowley said at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit, Michigan, this week. “It’s something to embrace and understand and bring into your organization in a thoughtful way.”
Rowley saw big potential for generative and agentic AI. Generative AI interprets data, while agentic AI helps with specific business tasks. “That evolutionary reasoning doesn’t stop. It’s like the perfect employee,” he said, describing agentic AI’s ability to learn and adapt.
Customers will benefit most, Rowley said, from more personalized interactions and streamlined digital experiences. He gave the example of Cox’s own top-three marketplace, Autotrader.com, where AI tailors financing and vehicle options in real time. Rowley experimented with it himself. “Within minutes it generated an email [and] a text … with a much more personalized picture of what’s available and what you can afford,” he said.
Rowley added that dealerships, which he described as “the heartbeat of the auto industry and the communities,” will be key to leading this transformation as the industry navigates tariffs, consolidation and cost pressures.
