Capital One is reshaping the automotive retail landscape with its proprietary multi-agentic AI assistant, Chat Concierge, designed to enhance both dealer operations and customer experiences in the increasingly competitive auto market.
Developed over 15 months and launched in early 2025, the system employs multiple specialized AI agents working in coordination, similar to Capital One's own organizational structure. "We took inspiration from how Capital One itself functions," explains Milind Naphade, SVP of Technology and Head of AI Foundations. The system includes an evaluator agent trained on company policies that monitors other agents and can intervene if it detects problems.
Unlike traditional chatbots that simply collect contact information, Chat Concierge engages customers in natural conversations, answering complex questions about vehicle features, financing options, and trade-in values. The system can schedule test drives by connecting directly with dealers' customer relationship management systems and operates around the clock. "They can have 24/7 agents working, and if the car breaks down at midnight, the chat is there for you," Naphade notes.
The technology addresses critical challenges in today's auto retail environment. With rising vehicle prices creating affordability concerns and dealer inventories growing while sales decline, dealerships need more efficient ways to convert online inquiries into showroom visits. Sanjiv Yajnik, Capital One's president of financial services, emphasizes that "dealerships have got to run a very efficient operation. They've got to make sure they never miss a single customer."
Capital One built Chat Concierge using Meta's open-source Llama model as a foundation, customized with proprietary data from its extensive auto financing history and Auto Navigator platform. The company implemented strong guardrails through multiple testing iterations before deployment. Early results have been impressive, with participating dealers reporting a 55% improvement in engagement and quality leads.
Looking ahead, Capital One plans to expand this agentic AI approach to other areas of its business, including its travel services. "This is our first beachhead," says Prem Natarajan, chief scientist and head of enterprise AI at Capital One. "Internally, too, we think this will scale to a lot of use cases."