Lead with Strategy. Leverage with AI.

The final Main Stage presentation of the 2026 AADA Convention & Expo lands at exactly the right moment.

Across two days, delegates will explore the forces reshaping automotive retail: tighter margins, new brands, electrification, used car opportunity, fixed operations, regulation, global disruption, customer expectations, leadership communication and the changing economics of the dealership.

The question that remains is practical and urgent.

How do dealers compete for the customer now?

That is the focus of Lead With Strategy. Leverage With AI., the AADA youX Special Presentation taking place on Thursday 30 July at 3:00pm on the Main Stage.

A Main Stage Session Built Around Strategy and AI

Moderated by David Kain from Kain Advisory and Chelsea Stillwell from NCM Associates, this hybrid presentation and panel discussion will bring together:

Simon Penhaligon, CEO & Co-Founder, youX
Luke Manion, Chief Digital Officer, Westside Auto Wholesale
Eric Rea, Co-Founder & CEO, Podium
Michael Clarke, Managing Director, APAC, Impel

Together, the panel will explore the three marketing fundamentals every dealer needs and five AI solutions leading the way.

It is a strong way to bring the AADA 2026 Main Stage program home.

AI Is Powerful, But It Is Not a Strategy

AI is now one of the most discussed forces in business.

It promises speed, scale, personalisation, automation, insight and efficiency. In automotive retail, it is already influencing lead handling, customer communication, marketing, inventory presentation, reputation management, data analysis, follow-up and operational decision-making.

But AI does not remove the need for strategy.

If anything, it makes strategy more important.

A dealership without clear marketing fundamentals can adopt every new tool in the market and still fail to create meaningful advantage. Technology can accelerate a process, but it cannot fix a weak message, unclear positioning, poor customer experience, slow follow-up or a lack of discipline around data and measurement.

That is why the structure of this session matters.

It does not begin with AI as a shiny object. It begins with the fundamentals every dealer needs. From there, it examines the AI solutions now helping leading dealerships turn those fundamentals into faster, sharper and more consistent execution.

Start With the Problem, Not the Tool

For dealer principals, general managers, marketing leaders and department heads, this distinction is crucial.

The danger in any technology cycle is that businesses start with the tool rather than the problem. They ask what the platform can do before they have defined what the dealership needs to achieve.

The result can be another system, another dashboard, another subscription and another layer of complexity that fails to move the numbers that matter.

The stronger approach is to lead with strategy.

What customers are you trying to reach?
What do you want to be known for?
Where are you losing opportunities?
How fast are you responding?
How effectively are you converting interest into action?
What customer data do you actually trust?
How consistent is your follow-up?
What experience are you creating across sales, service and ownership?

Only then does the AI conversation become commercially useful.

Where AI Can Help Dealers Improve

Used well, AI can help dealers respond faster, communicate more personally, identify opportunities earlier, automate routine work, strengthen lead management, improve customer engagement and support teams under pressure.

It can help a dealership become more consistent in the moments where inconsistency has traditionally cost money.

Used poorly, it can simply make weak habits faster.

That is the line this session will explore: how dealers can apply AI in ways that support better strategy, stronger execution and measurable business outcomes.

A Panel with Practical Automotive Retail Perspective

The strength of this session is the mix of perspectives.

David Kain and Chelsea Stillwell will provide an international dealer advisory and performance lens, grounding the discussion in the marketing fundamentals dealers need before technology can deliver value.

Simon Penhaligon will bring the youX perspective on customer experience, finance technology, automation and digital strategy.

Luke Manion will add the practical view from Westside Auto Wholesale, where data, digital execution, customer engagement and market responsiveness are central to high-volume retail performance.

Eric Rea will bring Podium’s customer communication and AI expertise from the US market, with insight into how local businesses can convert more leads and drive revenue.

Michael Clarke will bring Impel’s perspective on AI-powered automotive retail solutions and customer lifecycle management across sales and service.

Together, the panel gives dealers a chance to examine AI from both sides: the strategic and the operational.

Customers Do Not Care Where the Friction Comes From

Automotive retail is entering a period where customer expectations are moving faster than many legacy processes.

Customers expect speed, relevance, transparency and continuity. They expect businesses to remember them, respond quickly and make the next step easy.

They do not care whether the friction sits in a CRM, a lead process, a staff handover or a missed message.

They only know the experience.

AI can help dealers close some of those gaps, but only when it is connected to a clear view of the customer journey.

The strongest dealerships will not use AI as a replacement for human relationships. They will use it to support those relationships by reducing delay, improving consistency, surfacing opportunity and giving teams more time to focus on the moments where human judgement matters most.

What Dealers Should Listen For

For delegates preparing for the session, the most valuable questions may not be “Which AI tools should we buy?”

They may be:

Which parts of our customer journey are weakest, slowest or least consistent?
Where are we losing leads, customers or margin?
How well are we using our data?
Where could automation remove friction?
Where does our team need more consistency?
Which AI solutions can support the strategy we already know we need?

That is where this session connects directly to dealership performance.

Lead With Strategy. Then Leverage AI.

The theme of AADA 2026 is Leading the Way.

In marketing and AI, leading the way does not mean chasing every new technology. It means understanding which tools serve the strategy, which changes create advantage, and which fundamentals must be strengthened before innovation can deliver value.

As the final Main Stage presentation of AADA 2026, Lead With Strategy. Leverage With AI. will leave dealers with a clear message: the future of automotive marketing will not be won by technology alone.

It will be won by dealers who know their customers, define their edge, strengthen their processes and use AI to execute with greater speed, intelligence and discipline.

Lead with strategy.

Then leverage the tools that help the business move.

Join Us at AADA 2026

Lead With Strategy. Leverage With AI. will take place as the AADA youX Special Presentation on Thursday 30 July at 3:00pm on the Main Stage.

Join David Kain, Chelsea Stillwell, Simon Penhaligon, Luke Manion, Eric Rea and Michael Clarke for a practical discussion on dealership marketing strategy, AI and the future of automotive retail performance.

The 2026 AADA Convention & Expo takes place 29–30 July at ICC Sydney.

Review the program and secure your place at AADA 2026.