#29 Conversation with Benjamin Okuka: Automotive Market, eCommerce, AI and Product Managers

Ben leads the B2C Experience  Product team at FordDirect to develop and launch digital products during a time when Ford Motor Company is undergoing massive transformational change.  Ben is responsible for the product management of Ford Motor Company North America portfolio of B2C digital experiences, including ford.com, lincoln.com, ford.ca, lincolnofcanada.com, regional dealer websites, and several other digital properties. Over the last six years, Ben has led Digital Retail initiatives and has developed deep domain expertise on this subject matter. He is an automotive eCommerce leader driving efforts to simplify the car buying process and experience through digital transformation and delivering stellar digital experiences for Ford Motor Company and it’s dealer body. In this podcast, we will cover the following topics: - What are the challenges in integrating advanced digital technologies into the buying process? How Artificial Intelligence influences the process of buying vehicles but also communicating with buyers? - Personalization - is it still something new, or is it commoditized already? How does CX need to be redesigned considering customers’ expectations? - What Product Managers can do to stay more competitive and bring even more value to companies like Ford? What do companies expect from Product Managers in the era of digital technologies and direct communication?