en.Wedoany.com Reported - Salesforce Japan held the Agentforce World Tour Tokyo 2026 event from June 9 to 10 at The Prince Park Tower Tokyo in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. During the breakout sessions on the first day, Honda Sales Operation Japan (HSJ) shared its latest practices in optimizing customer experience using AI Agents. The discussion featured Jun Muto, Manager of the LCB Planning Section at HSJ Technology & Innovation Company; Keiichi Morimoto, Manager of the Digital Marketing Section; and Xiaofen Wang, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Salesforce Japan.
In explaining the background of HSJ's introduction of the Salesforce AI Agent "Agentforce," Jun Muto pointed out that the time period when users obtain automotive information has significantly shifted to nighttime. Moreover, there has been a substantial increase in users who gather information online and compare products before visiting dealerships. At the same time, the declining working-age population has led to a structural shortage of talent at dealerships. Internally, HSJ faces three major challenges: loss of contact opportunities, information asymmetry, and constraints on sales resources. The combined effect of these external and internal environments served as the direct driving force behind this transformation.
To address these challenges, HSJ combined Honda's vast accumulated data with Salesforce's AI technology. By introducing Agentforce into the smartphone application "My Honda," it added the "AI Automotive Life Advisor" function. This feature is available 24/7 to answer user questions, provide recommendations on optimal vehicle replacement timing, perform fault diagnosis, and deliver information via push notifications based on user-registered interests. Keiichi Morimoto stated that the project launched a proof of concept (PoC) in just about three months and was rolled out nationwide in a short period.
The key to the rapid PoC launch lay in two points. First, by directly adopting the established Agentforce platform without needing to design and build infrastructure from scratch, HSJ was able to fully focus on customer value design. Second, HSJ and Salesforce clearly defined their division of labor: HSJ concentrated on customer needs research and business planning, while Salesforce handled technical development and implementation. In terms of system architecture, the "AI Automotive Life Advisor" in the My Honda app is powered by Agentforce in the backend. It relies on a data system centered on a CDP (Customer Data Platform) and integrates with dealership core systems to enable real-time sharing of customer interests and concerns.
Regarding future plans, HSJ has developed a three-step roadmap. Step 1 has already been rolled out nationwide, with the AI Automotive Life Advisor providing 24-hour responses and test drive appointment guidance, while also offering conversation-linked support and negotiation assistance for dealership employees. Step 2 plans to enable comparisons between new and old generations when new models are launched, facilitate smooth test drive and delivery appointments based on chat content, and further strengthen AI chat-based negotiation support for dealership employees. Step 3 will implement voice response, support remote fault handling, and enhance proactive proposals based on users' personal schedules.
Based on initial feedback, both the AI Automotive Life Advisor and the sales support AI for dealership employees have received positive evaluations. Users have reported that they "can easily consult on automotive life-related matters," while dealership employees have expressed that "being able to grasp customer interests in advance is greatly appreciated." In some cases, contracts have already been signed through the AI Agent. Keiichi Morimoto concluded that AI Agents are transitioning from being "nice to have" to essential infrastructure that is "hard to do without." HSJ will maintain a sense of speed through its partnership with Salesforce, continuously strengthen functions, and enhance the value of the purchasing experience by integrating the real and digital worlds.
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