VADA A.I. Academy
Artificial intelligence is changing how dealerships operate. VADA A.I. Academy helps you understand it, use it responsibly and put it to work across your dealership.
Academy Lessons
Start with the basics and build your AI skills through short, practical lessons designed for dealership professionals.
Get Started With AI
Never used ChatGPT or Claude? Learn how to choose an AI assistant, start a conversation and put AI to work on a simple task.
Write a Good Prompt
Learn how to give AI better instructions, improve its answers through follow-up prompts, and understand what dealership information you should keep out of public AI tools.
Put AI to Work at Your Dealership
Move beyond simple prompts and use AI for real work — emails, meeting notes, documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and other everyday dealership tasks.
Build an AI-Ready Dealership
Take AI beyond individual tasks. Learn how to identify opportunities, explore advanced tools, evaluate AI vendors, and build a practical AI strategy for your dealership.
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Video Library
Browse videos for additional examples, ideas, and guidance. These videos supplement the Academy lessons—watch them in any order and choose the level that fits your experience.
AI Basics
Understand AI and how dealers are beginning to use it. Start with VADA dealer perspectives and practical discussions of responsible adoption.
Watch the AI Basics playlist
Watch VADA conversations and expert perspectives selected for this level.
Open full playlist on YouTube →Is AI Right for Your Dealership?
Kayla Kody discusses practical uses of AI, employee adoption, the human connection and responsible use.
What Was Once Fun and Games Is Bottom-Line Gains
Don Hall looks at AI's move from novelty to a real dealership business tool.
Navigating the Challenges: Integrating AI into Your Business
A dealership-focused look at data, privacy, training, legal and ethical considerations.
Next step: put AI to work.
See how AI is being applied across dealership operations.
See what VADA partners are doing with AI.
VADA partners are putting artificial intelligence to work across dealership compliance, customer engagement, employee training and sales. Explore some of the tools available to dealers today.
AI-powered dealership compliance
ComplyAuto is using purpose-built AI to help dealers review deals and advertising faster while managing complex compliance requirements.
Real-time deal-jacket verification with more than 200 checks across six core categories, completed in roughly 30–60 seconds.
Explore DealCheck Ai →AI-powered advertising and sales compliance that analyzes graphic and text ads against federal and state-specific requirements and flags issues for review.
Explore Guardian →
AI-powered customer engagement and marketing
Digital Air Strike applies AI to customer conversations, lead response and dealership visibility as consumers increasingly use AI-powered search.
AI-powered assistants can engage customers around the clock, answer questions, qualify leads, schedule appointments and route conversations to dealership staff.
Explore AI engagement →Helps strengthen the dealership signals used by AI search platforms so dealers can improve visibility in results from tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
Explore AI Search →
AI-powered dealership training
Brown & Brown Dealer Services uses AI to give dealership employees a place to practice real-world interactions before they happen with actual customers.
A personalized experiential learning platform that simulates face-to-face, phone, email and text interactions and provides performance feedback for sales, fixed operations and leadership development.
Explore SIM365 →
AI built into the dealership CRM
VinSolutions brings predictive intelligence, generative AI and automated customer engagement directly into the CRM to help teams identify opportunities and personalize follow-up.
Uses shopper and CRM data to identify in-market customers and generate personalized emails and texts that dealership staff can review and send.
Engages shoppers 24/7, qualifies leads, schedules appointments, summarizes customer needs and keeps conversations connected to the CRM record.
Explore VinSolutions AI →Products and capabilities are provided by the respective VADA partners. Visit each partner's website for current product details and availability.
AI at Work
Move beyond the basics and see how AI is being applied to marketing, customer experience, fixed operations and dealership productivity.
Watch the AI at Work playlist
Watch VADA conversations and expert perspectives selected for this level.
Open full playlist on YouTube →Preparing for a World Beyond SEO
Chad Graves explores AI-driven marketing and changing customer discovery.
“Data Is King”
Diana Lee discusses AEO, dealership data and building an AI strategy.
“Don’t Leave Dollars on the Table”
Jim Roche discusses AI, automation and warranty operations.
10 Takeaways on Warranty, AI and Customer Retention
Lessons on fixed ops, automation and customer relationships.
Dealer Data Scientist
John Coles discusses using AI behind the scenes to strengthen — not replace — people.
Ready to think bigger?
Explore data strategy, agentic AI, automation, governance and the technology shaping what comes next.
Advanced AI Strategy
For dealer principals, GMs, department heads and technology leaders exploring data strategy, agentic AI, automation, governance and risk.
Watch the Advanced AI Strategy playlist
Watch VADA conversations and expert perspectives selected for this level.
Open full playlist on YouTube →AI for Employee Development
Napoleon Rumteen on how AI can measure skills and improve hiring and retention in high-turnover roles like sales and service.
Diving into the data
Diana Lee discusses automotive-specific AI, proprietary dealership data, and real-time market insights.
Cybersecurity and AI: How It Relates to Dealerships
Dealer attorney Barrie Beaty examines cybersecurity exposure, technology risk and dealership liability.
FTC Advertising Compliance at VADA ’26
A compliance discussion that includes AI in dealership advertising.
Keep learning as AI evolves.
Browse VADA's growing library of AI videos, articles and dealership perspectives.
Resource Library
VADA conversations and reporting on artificial intelligence and its impact on automotive retail.
Dealer Data Scientist: Dealers can’t wait for the old market to come back
ACV’s John Coles told VADA dealers that margin compression is here to stay, affordability is reshaping demand and AI should support — not replace — people.
Dealer tech company CEO: ‘Own your data, or someone else will’
Diana Lee of Constellation says the future of automotive marketing belongs to dealers who own their data, embrace AI and make pricing easy to find.
FTC fires warning shot throughout retail automotive industry
FTC regulators are making clear that vehicle advertisements must show the true offering price — including all mandatory dealer fees — and dealers should move quickly to review their advertising and sales practices to avoid costly violations.
Barrie: Cybersecurity and AI: How it Relates to Dealerships
As vehicles’ advanced technology introduces new cybersecurity risks, dealerships face direct liability. Major brands have faced vulnerabilities allowing remote vehicle control and data theft. Failing to address these discoverable risks can lead to lawsuits. Learn the critical steps to protect your dealership from these growing threats.
What was once fun and games is bottom-line gains: The growing role of AI in dealerships
Initially a curiosity, AI’s impact on automotive retail is now undeniable. From AI-powered customer chatbots providing 24/7 service to DealCheck AI automating compliance, this technology is boosting efficiency and empowering dealership teams.
Greenfield outlines future of automotive retail
In his third straight appearance at a VADA Annual Convention, industry watcher and investor Steve Greenfield laid out his vision – backed up by facts – on the future of the industry.
Don’t Fear the Future of AI in Automotive
Article from VADA Partner ACV Auctions October 17, 2023 From our cars to our houses, technology continues to advance the way we live our lives in a major way. Some
Ready to Put AI to Work?
Open a lesson and start learning. Each lesson offers practical guidance you can apply to dealership work.