LAS VEGAS — Organizers of the upcoming Agent Summit have announced that dealer technology expert Jim Maxim Jr. will present “Digital Retailing Technologies,” a featured session designed to get agents up to speed with the digital disruptors penetrating automotive retail and finance. The event will be held May 20–23, 2018, at the Venetian & Palazzo Resort Hotel Casinos in Las Vegas.

“We are seeing a paradigm shift. F&I is getting pushed further upstream to be introduced when the customer is shopping for the car online,” said Maxim, who serves as president of MaximTrak and chief digital officer for RouteOne. We are seeing a series of new companies engaging with the customer to provide a seamless experience without entering the showroom. In my opinion, we can’t let that go unnoticed.”

Maxim’s session will begin at 10:35 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22. He pledged to help attendees gauge whether their agencies are prepared to navigate the “new waters” of auto finance and continue to serve dealer clients as they transition to new technologies and processes. In addition to a comprehensive overview of new solutions and ideas, Maxim said his presentation will offer a glimpse into the future — or at least an experienced guess.

“I want to take a look down the road,” he said. “In five or 10 years, what will our landscape look like, and how will agents adapt?”

David Gesualdo, who serves as Agent Summit show chair and publisher of Agent Entrepreneur and F&I and Showroom magazines, said technology-themed content has drawn crowds since the event’s inception, and Maxim’s session will be no exception.

“Individual dealers may choose to ignore emerging technologies, but agents cannot,” Gesualdo said. “We are proud to play host to this session, and we couldn’t have asked for a better speaker than Jim Maxim to lead it.”

Registration for Agent Summit 2018 is now open at the event’s website. To discuss sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, contact David Gesualdo at 727-947-4027 or via email.