RockED is taking another leap into automotive high-tech education.

The mobile auto industry sales enablement platform has partnered with Impel, a provider of automotive artificial intelligence technology, to launch the industry’s first standardized AI certification.

The automotive AI certification program is designed to give dealership employees and other industry staff the practical knowledge designed to help them work collaboratively with AI technology across critical dealership functions, including sales, service, merchandising and marketing.

The companies said the certification includes testing standards to ensure certificate holders demonstrate proficiency in understanding and applying automotive AI technology in a dealership setting, providing them with marketable skills and positioning them as leaders in the rapidly evolving automotive retail industry.

This isn’t RockED’s first high-profile certification collaboration. Last month, the company unveiled an EV expert certification program in partnership with J.D. Power.

RockED and Impel stressed the importance of the AI certification, citing a 2024 CDK survey that found more than half of dealership executives are considering incorporating AI into their operation and noting that with repetitive tasks being automated and new technological capabilities available, dealers must rethink traditional workflows and processes. That results in employees having to take on new roles and reallocate time and effort to more strategic, higher value activities, which the company said makes training and upskilling “critical needs” for both dealers and their staff.

“This partnership with Impel and the launch of an industry-wide AI certification program represents a transformative step for automotive retailing,” RockED CEO Matthias Stoever said. “By bringing together Impel’s deep automotive AI expertise with RockED’s innovative learning and development approach, we will be able to upskill the workforce and advance the careers of thousands of dealership employees.

“This is exactly why RockED was founded. I look forward to working with Impel to make a meaningful impact on the industry as a whole.”

The Automotive AI certification program will consist of some 70 micro-learning guides, aimed at preparing dealership employees for working alongside AI technology. RockED said each guide will contain “highly actionable content delivered via bite-sized videos” designed to create an interactive and engaging learning environment, and managers and staff can track progress and access content anytime through the RockEd mobile app learning platform.

The program includes digital completion badges and achievement certificates that can be displayed on social platforms, email signatures and resumes.

As part of the partnership, Impel will also work with RockED to develop and deliver a customized training program for Impel AI customers that includes practical tips and best practices for using the Impel AI platform to optimize business processes and performance.

“Contrary to what some people have feared, AI isn’t going to lead to job loss, but rather will create new, more meaningful opportunities for knowledge workers in the automotive industry,” Impel co-founder and CEO Devin Daly said. “There is a growing belief that the employees most likely to benefit over the next 10 years are those who embrace the changing nature of work by learning to effectively work alongside AI technology. This partnership is designed to do just that.”