AT&T and CarForce are taking artificial intelligence (AI) to a global scale, working together to create an AI focused on managing car maintenance and predicting car problems for dealerships, fleet managers, and repair shops alike.
Denmark holds the honor of being the test site for an Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, which will debut in the first quarter of this year. In that regard, it will be launching through FTZ, which maintains distribution to around 1,500 service shops. CarForce will also be providing access to a connected garage experience to around 80 percent of Denmark’s independent dealers and garages, after which it intends to launch in the United States, France, and Germany later this year.
“Software should be borderless,” Jessika Lora, founder and CEO of CarForce, said. “Using AT&T’s global connectivity and IoT platforms allows us to quickly build and scale CarForce into dealerships worldwide. Plus, my team can focus on the software solution, not on logistics.”
Lora’s team creates software that utilized in-car diagnostics to provide almost real-time analysis of customers’ vehicles. AI factors in by providing preventative and predictive maintenance. In theory, this could also reduce vehicle downtime and increase supply and repair efficiencies, with notifications sent to customers when repairs or fluid changes are required, for example. AT&T factors by providing connectivity to global LTE and LTE-M networks by plugging one of its SIMs into a car’s diagnostic port.
Also part of the new IoT Platform will be AT&T’s Data Flow program–a cloud manager of sensor data meant to aid businesses in scaling to meet demand. It’s scheduled for availability in the second quarter of this year.