January 25, 2026
· Updated February 1, 2026
As NADA approaches, many dealerships will encounter an overwhelming number of “AI-powered” solutions promising faster execution, better performance, and transformational efficiency. The challenge in 2026 is no longer access to AI – it’s distinguishing between real capability and noise.
That distinction matters more than ever, because much of what will be presented on the show floor will sound remarkably similar.
Walk the floor at NADA this year and you’ll hear familiar phrases repeated booth after booth:
None of these claims are inherently wrong. The issue is that they no longer provide meaningful signal.
As large language models, foundational AI APIs, and off-the-shelf automation tools have become widely accessible, the language of AI has converged faster than the systems behind it. Many vendors are now describing similar outcomes, even when their underlying capabilities differ significantly… or barely at all.
This convergence creates a new problem for decision-makers: when everything sounds advanced, discernment becomes harder.
The current wave of AI adoption did not begin with infrastructure. It began with accessibility.
Powerful models became available through shared APIs. Prompting patterns spread quickly. Feature parity accelerated. In response, many products layered AI onto existing workflows rather than rethinking those workflows entirely.
This led to a familiar pattern:
The result is an ecosystem where many solutions use AI, but few are designed around it.
That difference matters once real teams, real constraints, and real scale enter the picture.
AI demos are optimized for immediacy. They showcase speed, fluency, and apparent intelligence in controlled environments.
What demos rarely reveal is what happens next.
In many cases, AI increases activity without improving structure. Output grows, but coordination cost grows alongside it. Teams spend more time managing, editing, and reconciling work that never quite compounds.
The demo succeeds. The system struggles.
AI slop doesn’t usually announce itself as failure. It shows up subtly:
For agencies, this often means increased cleanup and client education.
For dealers, it can mean a growing gap between effort and outcome.
The cost isn’t just financial. It’s cognitive. Leaders spend more time interpreting tools than acting on clarity.
In a crowded AI environment, differentiation no longer lives in features alone. It lives in structure.
Systems that stand apart tend to share a few characteristics:
These systems don’t feel louder. They feel calmer.
Their value compounds because the system improves – not just the output.
This year, the most useful skill at NADA may not be evaluating what vendors promise – but noticing what they don’t explain.
Listen for answers to questions like:
When answers remain vague, or revert back to feature lists, it’s often a signal that the system hasn’t been fully thought through.
NADA will showcase an extraordinary amount of innovation. Much of it will be well-intentioned. Some of it will be genuinely valuable.
But in an environment where nearly every booth claims intelligence, the advantage shifts to those who can see structure.
The dealers and agencies that come out ahead won’t be the ones who adopt the most AI. They’ll be the ones who recognize which systems help their expertise travel further… with less friction, more clarity, and lasting impact.
That’s the difference between AI as activity… and AI as infrastructure.
Part of the NADA 2026 Series
