U.S.-based software development company Cerence AI is expanding its footprint beyond the vehicle with the launch of two new conversational AI agents aimed at dealerships and OEMs. It’s a strategic shift toward a broader automotive ecosystem.
It’s newsworthy to Canadian dealers surveying AI/technology advancements in the auto retail space. The company said its dealer assist agent and ownership companion agent extend Cerence’s agentic, domain-specific AI portfolio beyond in-car voice assistants into sales, service and ownership support.
“The introduction of these two domain-specific agents marks a significant evolution in our strategy to extend Cerence’s conversational and agentic AI leadership beyond the vehicle and into new areas of the automotive ecosystem and beyond,” said Sai Yagnyamurthy, General Manager of Growth & Strategic Verticals at Cerence AI, in a statement.
For dealerships facing staffing constraints and rising customer expectations, AI-driven lead response and service scheduling could help reduce missed opportunities, improve follow-up consistency and free advisors to focus on in-store customers.
The company said its dealer assist agent is designed to automate lead handling and service interactions at dealerships, addressing persistent gaps in response times and staffing. The agent automates lead capture, test-drive bookings and service scheduling, while routing high-value interactions to staff through integrations with CRM and dealer management systems.
For OEMs, the ownership companion agent acts as an always-on in-car service assistant, helping drivers diagnose issues, understand alerts and book service appointments. Cerence said the agent also supports feature discovery, responding to data suggesting more than 60 per cent of vehicle owners do not use advanced vehicle features.
Used together, the two agents are designed to create a closed-loop service experience, enabling real-time handoffs between the vehicle and the dealership.
