HOUSTON -

Konect Ai wants to be a leader in automotive artificial intelligence, so the company is turning its leadership over to an executive whose professional career includes stints with Cox Automotive, eCarList and Dealer.com

On Friday, Konect Ai named Jerry Salerno as president as the company looks to expand further into the North American automotive industry.

According to a news release, Konect Ai has increased its workforce in order to accommodate the demand for its user-friendly artificial intelligence for dealer lead management and data reengagement.

Most recently, Salerno was the director of enterprise dealer partnerships for Cox Automotive.

Prior to joining Cox Automotive, Salerno was instrumental in the start-up of eCarList, which was acquired by Dealertrack. He then later worked at Dealer.com.

“I have been extremely fortunate to work with some of the most innovative dealers and technologies over the course of my career. I truly believe Konect Ai is the next big thing in automotive,” Salerno said in the news release.

Konect Ai indicated that Salerno will be leading a team of coders, graphic designers, sales consultants, data collectors and content creators.

Konect Ai is looking to continue client successes like the Henson Brand Dealerships, located in Madisonville, Texas, that has been using the company’s products for seven months.

“The use of the system has been awesome for us. Their tool is easy to use so you know what leads to focus on and which ones not to. The follow-up and engagement have been great,” said Eric Barbosa, managing partner of Henson Brand Dealerships.

“We personally call the team, and the support and interaction has been amazing. They have changed our game as far as follow up; our follow up has increased by about 30% since having that tool, and I think that has to do with their AI. As soon as we know the customer is engaged, we call them,” Barbosa continued in the news release.

For more information, visit www.konectai.com.