Customer Experience as a Strategy in Automotive - External LLM Integration and Its Potential Implications

Sammanfattning

Recently OEM automakers have shifted their business models to incorporate customer experience and strategic value creation through LLM software. Although this is an emerging trend, limited research has been conducted to understand the phenomenon. The research question has therefore been: How may an external conversational large language model affect an OEM automaker’s anticipated customer experience, strategic value creation and external dependency? A basic qualitative study was utilized where semi-structured interviews, on-site observations have been conducted. Thematic analysis was used to categorize the results. The findings showed a link between the integration of an external conversational LLM and an improved perceived customer experience. The results also highlighted an increased strategic value creation through the partnership. However, questions of potential data control and dependency were also raised. This study is therefore contributing to Information Systems (IS) research by providing an in-depth view of the external LLM integration in an OEM automaker.