CASE STUDY
If the business wants to improve operational efficiency, we look at the underlying processes and determine where automation, integration and data can reduce manual intervention and improve productivity.
Our broader ambition is to move from traditional rule-based automation towards intelligent processes where AI can understand information, determine the next appropriate action and execute it within defined controls.
If the Group wants to expand regionally, we look at whether our platforms, data and processes can scale across markets without creating unnecessary complexity. This approach ensures that technology investments follow business priorities rather than technology trends.
The clearest example of this evolution is our movement towards Cargen Navigate.
Cargen Navigate represents a broader ambition than simply having an ICT department that supports the business. It represents the transition towards using our digital capabilities to build platforms that can serve the wider Car & General ecosystem and potentially create new commercial value.
Our ecosystem extends beyond our employees and internal operations. It includes customers, dealers, suppliers, partners and other participants in our value chain.
AI, automation and data analytics are reshaping enterprise operations. How is Car & General leveraging these technologies today, and where do you see the greatest opportunities over the next three to five years?
At Car & General, our approach to AI, automation and data analytics is a natural progression of our digital transformation journey, from fragmented legacy systems to integrated platforms, centralised data and digitised processes. The next stage is using AI to fundamentally change how work is performed across the organisation.
Our objective is not simply to implement AI tools, but to create an organisation where technology handles repetitive and predictable work while our people focus on judgement, creativity, relationships, leadership and strategic thinking.
For me, the next phase is about moving ICT from a cost centre to a value centre, using digital capabilities to create new revenue opportunities, improve customer value and build regional platforms that transcend organisational and national boundaries.
Over the next three to five years, we aim to make our processes significantly more efficient through widespread AI adoption. Wherever work is repetitive, predictable and can be performed reliably by AI, we should question why it remains manual.
Ultimately, AI should handle the routine, people should handle the complex and together they should create a faster, smarter and more customer-focused Car & General.
Cybersecurity has become a boardroom priority. How are you strengthening cyber resilience while ensuring security enables, rather than slows, business innovation and digital transformation?
At Car & General, we see cybersecurity as an essential enabler of digital transformation rather than something that should slow the business down. Our approach is therefore focused on building resilience while ensuring that security investments are aligned with actual business risks and priorities.
A key part of this approach is partnering with experienced assurance and advisory institutions such as PwC and Deloitte. We recognise that while our internal ICT and security teams understand our business and technology environment deeply, an independent perspective is critical in identifying blind spots and challenging our assumptions.
Through these partnerships, we conduct assessments of our cybersecurity posture, identify gaps and develop realistic, prioritised roadmaps for closing those gaps. The objective is not to implement every security technology available in the market, but to identify the areas that present the greatest risk to the organisation and focus investment where it will have the most impact.
A key initiative is our internally developed AI Learning Hub, which is building AI literacy across the organisation. AI transformation cannot be driven by ICT alone.
Employees need to understand how to use AI effectively and responsibly, identify opportunities within their own processes and protect organisational data. We want AI to become an organisational capability rather than something limited to the technology team.
We are also applying AI directly to customer-facing processes through customer follow-up automation using Ribbo AI on AWS. This improves the consistency and timeliness of customer engagement by automating routine follow-ups while allowing our teams to focus on meaningful customer relationships.
This is particularly important because cybersecurity investment has to be balanced with business needs. We have to make decisions based on risk, business value and affordability. Working with experienced assurance organisations helps us single out the most critical priorities, validate the decisions we are making and ensure that our roadmap is both practical and achievable.
It also provides an important level of assurance to the Board. Cybersecurity is no longer purely a technical conversation within ICT. The Board needs confidence that the organisation understands its exposure, has identified the key gaps and has a credible plan to address them. Independent assessments and periodic reviews help provide that confidence and ensure that progress is objectively evaluated. •
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