Yet AI is making an impact, with several Irish companies at the forefront of that movement, with Irish dealers embracing the time benefits that come with deploying AI agents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an age-old problem. Leads aren\u2019t responded to quickly enough and they\u2019re not followed up regularly enough,\u201d says Shaun Donnellan, founder of AutoAgent, a company that develops AI agents for dealerships. \u201cDealerships are too busy, salespeople have huge amounts of paperwork and prep to do along with getting cars from A to B, and much more.<\/p>\n
\u201cAutoAgent helps with a lot of that because it handles the mundane side of selling to the customer. The precious commodity for customers is time. When I started selling cars in 2012, they had far more time to come in and do things. Today, people have so little time that they visit less than two dealerships per purchase on average.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speed matters in this sector and anywhere in the process where hours or even minutes can be saved is crucial. By the time a buyer is looking at dealerships to engage with, they\u2019ve usually already narrowed down what they want from Google searches.<\/p>\n
For the dealership, the goal is to capture and keep the buyer\u2019s attention while their interest is at its peak.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe customer wants the car. There are probably a few versions of the car available. The first person that responds and captures their time will most likely bring them in and sell them the car,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Donnellan has already worked with Tony Burke Motors to roll out his AI agents, with the agent having a direct impact on sales.<\/p>\n
[\u00a0The long road to building an Irish AI start-upOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cTony has already been a leader for technology in the sector. When I came to him with this, he leaned into it hard. It booked nine appointments for his dealership in July, with five of those turning into sales,\u201d says Donnellan.<\/p>\n AutoAgent deployed Aran, its bespoke agent, with Tony Burke Motors to engage with customers when humans weren\u2019t on hand.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a response optimisation platform that responds to customers and captures their interest while it\u2019s at its peak. It never takes time off, is never sick, and responds the way your dealership wants with your process,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n What Donnellan is doing is reflecting the wider benefit of AI agents to the auto dealership sector, according to Muireann Heaney, an AI engineer with AI One.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at a company like AutoAgent, they\u2019ve identified the point in the sales cycle of where issues come up. What they\u2019ve done is realise the information is there and focus on keeping the customer interested for the dealerships,\u201d says Heaney.<\/p>\n \u201cWith dealerships, getting the engagement from customers at the start is critical for them. That way the customer knows the dealership is interested and wants to give them information that can help their buying decision.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0Would you trust this AI to sell you a second-hand car?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n There is, however, the old adage of more haste, less speed. A classic misuse of AI is getting the fastest answer possible rather than the best one.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeed isn\u2019t the major concern because a normal consumer is willing to wait a few seconds. They are focused mostly on accurate and relevant information that they can verify. A fast answer doesn\u2019t always mean it\u2019s a good answer,\u201d says Janet Xiu Shi, an AI quality evaluation adviser.<\/p>\n Of course, trial runs and small roll-outs are one thing. Once AI use goes into full usage within any business, somebody has to be in charge of what it is and isn\u2019t permitted to do. The car dealership sector is no exception.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a business perspective, leadership needs to know how to measure AI effectiveness and who takes accountability for it. Operationally, the team needs to know what AI is and isn\u2019t allowed to use as well as being able to evaluate its output,\u201d says Xiu Shi.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why companies like TradeBid have embraced a hybrid approach. The company uses AI to help assess trade-ins but also knows that mistakes can be made. Low-confidence cases automatically get escalated to be looked over by human eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the inspection side, because our business relies on the accuracy of AI, we have to make sure the information is as good as possible. Where the confidence is too low on the AI side, we bring in people to take a look,\u201d says Conor O\u2019Boyle, co-founder of TradeBid.<\/p>\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/KU5YL2FQDVEJNOD3TEQPMO3VTQ.jpg\")
James Flynn\u2019s business Coso.ai uses AI to reduce the time businesses spend on social media <\/p>\n