When AI Assistant launched in 2020, the ambition was simple: help retailers do customer contact better. By 2023, that vision had accelerated into something few expected — full conversational AI, able to interact with customers naturally, respectfully, and at scale.
In this video interview, Chief Revenue Officer Phil Stubbs shares why the technology is now “better than human”, how dealers can get started, and what to look out for when choosing an AI partner.
Whether you’re exploring AI for the first time or already curious about how to scale, this conversation is packed with practical insights and clear advice.
Watch the full interview or dive into the highlights.
The Breakthrough Moment (01:10 – 01:55)
“We thought we’d deliver full conversational AI by mid-2024. By November 2023, we were already live.”
Phil recalls the moment AI Assistant hit a major milestone - ahead of schedule - and why it changed the game for dealers.
Better Than Human (01:40 – 02:10)
“It’s better than human. And I don’t make that claim idly.”
Phil explains why AI conversations can now out-perform manual follow up - more consistent, faster, and with measurable results.
Dealers Telling Dealers (02:50 – 03:20)
When retailers like Vines, Hendys and Steven Eagell join the platform, it’s not just adoption that grows. It’s reputation. Phil shares why peer-to-peer advocacy has become one of the strongest drivers of growth.
Easy Deployment (03:40 – 04:20)
“We can normally get a dealer live within about four to five weeks… results start dropping through after a couple of days.”
Phil outlines just how straightforward deployment is, with sales and service results starting to show within weeks.
Global Capability (05:50 – 06:10)
“Even in the UK we’ve had a customer reply in Polish - and we carried on the conversation in Polish.”
Phil explains how AI Assistant handles multiple languages and cultural nuances with ease.
How to Get Started (08:00 – 08:40)
“Use the data you already have.”
Phil’s advice is simple: start small, start smart. Most dealers are sitting on untapped opportunities in their DMS. Even something as straightforward as contacting service customers at the right time can unlock new sales.
What to Consider (08:55 – 10:05)
Choosing the right AI partner isn’t just about functionality. Phil highlights three essentials for dealers:
- Work with someone who truly understands automotive
- Choose a financially stable partner
- Demand clear ROI from every solution
ROI First (09:40 – 10:05)
“If it doesn’t have an ROI, don’t buy it.”
Phil explains why every AI Assistant product is designed around measurable return on investment - no exceptions.
Looking Ahead (10:50 – 11:20)
“Three weeks is a long time in AI.”
Phil reflects on the pace of change - and why AI Assistant is already years ahead of where most providers are aiming.
Transcription as follows:
What initially sparked the idea behind AI Assistant?
Well, I joined the business in early 2023 and the business has been in existence since 2020 but the initial outset idea I think that sparked it all was the fact that new technology was emerging and it could really work well in the automotive industry that often struggles to do some of the basic aspects of customer contact really well.
How has that initial vision changed?
I think you start with a sort of idea of what you want to be the outcome of a particular product or concept and then you hone it down, it becomes better and better, and then you learn more from that and you introduce other aspects, other attributes of contacting the customer, which once again generates revenue.
And that's what we're about generating revenue for dealers.
When did you think we’re onto something here?
Yeah, well I thought AI Assistant were really onto something when I decided to join the business in May 23, and then later that year, much earlier than we expected, we broke through on full blown AI which could respond to customers' messages and comments in a very full language model and address any attribute that the customer has given us in the email and really be polite, be respectful and to make it much more conversational than functional. And I think that was the moment we realised we could really take this anywhere.
Were you surprised how quickly that happened?
Yeah, we set ourselves a target of delivering it by the middle of 2024 but we were ready by November, which is testimony to the product teams because they did a great job and you could see my eyes light up when I was seeing what was happening and what was available. So, we just switched the customers across automatically.
They didn't have to do anything. So it's, it's better than human. I'm not making that claim idly. It's better than human, the interaction.
Have attitudes towards AI changed in the last 12 months?
Yeah, I think we've seen some dealers that have been quite progressive and want to know about the technology but aren't sure where to play, but a number of them are quite keen to pursue something very, very quickly. And in the last 12 months we've, we've been working with a number of dealer groups in, in addition to our existing customer base.
People like Dick Lovett and Jemca have always been clients of ours right from very early days but Vines, Hendys and Steven Eagell have joined us and we're working with people like FRF South Wales, and those sorts of customers are seeing great results. So when those results are there, we are now seeing dealers talking to dealers saying you really ought to get this, which from my perspective, makes my life a lot easier, but it gives me quite a sense of pride that the customers can see the return and they grow with us as to what they want to do.
What’s unique about AI Assistant’s solutions?
That's a good question because, the market's filled with people saying they can do various things. We're easy to deploy. We work very, very quickly. We can normally get a dealer live, elapse time, within about four to five weeks. The solutions are out of the box.
We can plug dealer specifics in very, very quickly, right from the right, from go live, really. It isn't onerous on the dealer from a deployment process, we tend to take them through it. There's a few Teams meetings. We get them to check some of the content and the messages that we want to send out initially and then when they've got that we are ready to go. They sit back and start to want to see the results after a couple of days and the results start dropping through after two or three days. We start to see, people come in, interactions coming back in, leads being followed up, and then a few weeks later we tend to see vehicles being sold or services being booked and we can see the results.
So, you know, it's worked very, very well and, and I think it's easy to deploy from a dealer perspective.
Do dealers use this more for sales or aftersales?
We have a spread but I think it's quite typical for dealers to want to start with us, to support their initiatives, to either increase the amount of service bookings they're getting, or their VHC follow ups, or they've got a problem with following up on overdue leads or they're getting lost sales, which are not actually lost sales and could be qualified.
So it depends on the dealer's priorities and pressures. No one ever seems to start in the same place but we tend to end up moving from one area to another. I think the latest trend, which has been quite interesting and coming out internationally from our perspective, is interest in service retention.
And what we mean by that is customers who are lapsed. Um, uh, and that surprised me. It's been very, very topical from customers coming to us from all markets just recently. So you can see how it emerges. We start with the basics and then it, it grows and then it grows a bit more because they can see the benefits, which is understandable.
How do different markets shape the product roadmap?
It's gonna sound really strange, but language is not a problem for us. We normally send messages out in, in the, in the local languages. Even if some of the language flags are set incorrectly on the system we're taking the data out of, if a customer comes back say in Arabic to an English response, because the flag wasn't set correctly, We can pick up the dialect of Arabic that they're using and we respond and the conversation carries on. Even in the UK we've had a UK customer that had a, a reply to one of the messages in Polish, and we carried on the conversation in Polish. So that's not, that's not a real concern for us.
I think there are always local nuances. So there are cultural aspects which the AI picks up very quickly and continues to build on. But as I said earlier, it's ready and out of the box. I think also we are having to tweak a little bit some of the conversations that we have on behalf of dealers because it's not always the same.
For instance, there's no real concept of a regular MOT in places like South Africa or government inspection. So, what else can we do and what's the revenue stream? Some countries include service plan as standard when they sell the vehicle, other countries add it on afterwards.
But that's easy. We can, we can work with that. We just need to understand the requirements and the team have an international background. We've all worked in multiple markets. So whilst every day's a bit of a school day, you don't learn the basics every day. You've, you've built that up over, over the decades that we've all worked in the industry.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as a team?
We, we have a can-do mentality, and we, we tend to internally say our job is to solve problems. So every day is a bit of a win and you sort of sit back at the end of the day and say, yeah, we've got a solution for that and that's in plan and that'll be ready shortly or we can turn that on now. The best bit is when the customer comes to us and says, I actually want to do X and we say, oh, we've got something for that. And oh, the eyes lights up.
Well, when can we get it deployed? And we said, well, you know, in the next few weeks. Um, and they, and then of course they've gotta do a little bit of work in just making sure everything's right.
So yeah, I think no one big thing, but every day solving problems and we've got a, a raft of expertise across the team to find a way.
What advice would you give to dealers starting their AI journey?
Use the data that you've already got in the business to generate more leads. Don't just focus on leads coming in from the website. You've got a huge amount of untapped data in that DMS that can talk to customers. And let's be honest with you, most dealers, most of their new car sales are coming from existing customers and those existing customers' data - vehicle and personal - are sat in the DMS typically or a CRM solution.
Use that data first. So don't start with trying to boil the ocean with what could possibly come at the beginning. Start in small steps. One thing could be contacting service customers to see if they want to buy a new car.
Simple as that, you know, at the right time with the right event. It, it's a great success.
What should dealers look for in an AI partner?
I think it's important that they consider people who understand the industry. Automotive, that's what we do. We don't do anything else. We focus purely on that, and our experience is all based on that. I think the other consideration is make sure that that partner's financially stable. There's lots of new startups that are funded and refunded, et cetera. We are self-funded and profitable. And I think that's always important because you want your provider that's providing that service that you're gonna rely on going forward to be there tomorrow. I think that's really key.
I think often we see as well the sponsor in the business might not be someone at the top of the business because this is emerging technology. In which case they often need to involve people in the business in the decision and I don't think they're actually initially sure who that should be. But it should be the business leaders. So the Directors of the business or the Group Aftersales Director or the Group Sales Manager, the CRM Manager because basically they've all got challenges to try and overcome and, you know, we can help them and they know their business well.
I think the other side to it is, I think there's lots of people promising functionality but actually you shouldn't take functionality unless there's a clear return on investment. And every single one of our products, we can demonstrate a clear return on investment. And I think that's crucial. So I was saying to a dealer yesterday, if it doesn't have an ROI, don't buy it. And I, and I think that's the crucial bit. So everything we do is geared around an outcome and an ROI and then the dealers see that.
What does the future hold?
I think incredible increases in functionality. This technology is moving at real pace. I mean three weeks is a long time in AI and we are well ahead of the curve and we are leading the industry. And I, I don't say that lightly. People have talked to us about what we're doing, some of the big IT companies, global IT companies, some of the big players in the automotive space as well.
And, and some of the things we did two years ago others are still trying to achieve. The technology is moving at such a pace that I think you could see a lot more functionality driving more efficiency. And I think, if I look back on the last year, and that's always a good place to start, I couldn't imagine what we would be doing now a year ago and I think next year will be, in a year's time this will be completely blowing everybody's minds.
For more information about how we can help you embrace AI and automation to boost profits in your dealership, email enquiries@ai-assistant.io or call us on 01488 757447.
