AI Won’t Pay Off Until the Data Plumbing Is Fixed | ASOTU Edge Webinar

Everyone wants to talk about AI. But almost no one wants to talk about what comes before it: data hygiene.

If your CRM, DMS, and vendor tools don’t speak the same language, adding AI won’t make things better. It just makes the mess move faster.

In this ASOTU Edge Webinar, hosts Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier sat down with Dave Steinberg of Foureyes and Daniel Kim of Barnes Crossing to break down how disconnected systems are sabotaging automation—and how to fix your foundation so AI can actually perform.

The Real Problem: Bad Plumbing

Dealers have spent years adding new tools to solve the same old problems. Each one builds its own “mini pipe” of data that doesn’t connect to anything else. The result:

• Multiple CRMs with inconsistent inputs

• Duplicate customer records and broken opt-out tracking

• Fragmented reporting no one fully trusts

As Steinberg put it, “Most groups live in collect-and-connect hell — running reports that take hours to build and still come with asterisks.”

That chaos kills efficiency and, worse, puts dealers at risk. When data is incomplete or inconsistent, automated outreach can easily violate customer preferences or compliance rules.

Step 1: Fix the Foundation

AI is only as good as the data you feed it. Before you automate, unify.

Daniel Kim described it this way: “Every dealership in our group uses their CRM differently. Without data hygiene, I can’t even see a full picture of what’s happening.”

The starting point isn’t new tech — it’s alignment:

1. Audit every system that touches customer data (CRM, DMS, website, vendor feeds).

2. Identify where duplicate, missing, or outdated records live.

3. Standardize how data is labeled, entered, and updated across rooftops.

4. Assign ownership for ongoing cleanup.

Think of it like redoing the plumbing before you install smart fixtures. The pipes have to connect first.

Step 2: Build a Single Source of Truth

Once your data is clean, you need one place where it all lives.

Modern dealer groups are setting up centralized data warehouses—unified hubs where CRM, DMS, and marketing data can flow together.

This makes it possible to:

• See every lead from every source in one dashboard.

• Compare performance by store, campaign, or salesperson.

• Spot weak lead mixes before they tank close rates.

• Understand what “good” looks like—not just for your store, but for the top 10% of performers across your network.

Dealers that reach this stage are finding hidden profit in plain sight—lost leads, underperforming salespeople, and marketing dollars wasted on un-trackable activity.

Step 3: Use Clean Data to Power Smarter AI

With a clear, connected foundation, AI can finally deliver on its promise—scale, efficiency, and personalization that doesn’t break your customer experience.

Steinberg shared that dealer groups using unified data pipelines can now:

• Train AI tools to prioritize the right leads automatically.

• Measure real ROI from automation instead of vanity metrics.

• Build compliance-friendly outreach that respects customer preferences.

Once the data flows, automation finally does what it’s supposed to: amplify the best parts of your operation, not expose the weak spots.

Step 4: Treat Data as an Asset

This is the shift few are talking about yet—but it’s coming fast.

As Steinberg warned, customer data will soon become a tangible asset in dealership buy-sell transactions. “You’re not just selling goodwill and inventory,” he said. “You’ll be selling your customer data—and its quality will determine its value.”

Think of your data like your facility or your reputation: it appreciates when it’s maintained, and depreciates when it’s ignored.

The Playbook for Dealers

This week:

• Audit your data sources. List every system that captures or stores customer info.

• Identify overlaps, missing fields, and inconsistent entries.

Next month:

• Create a single data map showing how information flows between systems.

• Standardize input rules across rooftops.

Next quarter:

• Centralize your clean data into one warehouse.

• Layer in AI tools that use that unified data for personalized marketing, lead scoring, and reporting.

Do it right, and AI becomes an accelerant. Skip it, and it just multiplies the mess.

The Bottom Line

AI is not a magic fix—it’s a force multiplier. If your data is disconnected, it multiplies the chaos.

But when your systems are clean, connected, and consistent, AI becomes what it was always meant to be: a competitive advantage that scales precision, not problems.

Before you automate, fix the flow.