"The future is already being automated, and it's enabled by AI" Uber, whose AI is so central to its business model that employees "…don't even think about it anymore," is betting big on self-driving cars driving down costs. As their core driver of competitiveness, it stands to reason that if Artificial Intelligence is smart enough to drive a car it can surely help the shop owner who doubles as its sole mechanic. Our previous entry explored how AI will impact the manufacturing and distribution of auto parts, but what about the businesses that purchase and use them on a daily basis? For service centers doing everything they can to move jobs out of the bays and customers through their doors, activities that add value or increase average ticket prices can fall by the wayside. "Advances in computing power will give machines abilities once reserved for humans--the ability to understand and organize unstructured data such as photos and speech, to recognize patterns, and to learn from past experiences how to improve future performance." For busy shops, AI has the potential to make up for any material or manpower shortage they may have.

With retail stalwart Macy's announcing significant store closures across the United States, it's clear that the reign of the brick and mortar kings has long since passed. Every business in operation today has either embraced digital transformation, is no longer operating, or has been purchased by an e-commerce giant. From local dealerships and neighborhood service centers to the largest suppliers of automotive vehicles and products, going digital is now mandatory. In fact, "traditional stores are closing down at a faster pace than ever before, with around 12,000 stores closing by the end of 2019, and the ones remaining are struggling to understand how to adapt to the new shopping paradigms." Alternatively, "over 40% of ecommerce sales being done on a mobile device."