The agency of the future is not a distant concept. Joel Kansanback, in his keynote at the Agent Summit on April 15th, was direct. The next five years in F&I will compress twenty-five years of change. That is not a trend call. It is an operating reality. The agents, administrators, and dealers who adjust to it will separate quickly, while those who do not will struggle to keep up with a system that is already moving.

Kansanback explores many of these themes in his book, The Future of Automotive Finance and Insurance. The keynote focuses on how those shifts are showing up now and what operators should be doing in response.

The 2025 NADA Data provides the context behind that shift. Franchised dealerships closed the year with over $1.3 trillion in total sales, an average new-vehicle selling price of $48,205, and an average monthly payment of $767 in Q4. Loan terms continue to extend, with 29.6% of new-vehicle loans running 73–84 months, while used-vehicle rates are sitting above 11%. The environment is tightening, and the keynote explains what that means operationally.

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The New Pressure Stack

The pressure in F&I is not coming from one place. It is structural. Dealers are generating record F&I income, averaging roughly $1,975 per car, while front-end gross remains compressed and affordability continues to stretch. Negative equity has moved from a $2,000–$3,000 issue to $8,000–$12,000 per transaction, making deal structure more fragile.

Regulatory activity has increased materially since 2022. Consumers are demanding faster, more transparent transactions, and the talent pool for experienced F&I managers continues to tighten. Kansanback frames this through a shifting standard. What used to be considered elite performance is now baseline, and the bar continues to move as the operating environment changes. Standing still is not neutral. It is regression against a rising standard.

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Culture Is the Multiplier

The traditional agency model has not changed much. People, pay plan, training, systems, and management support still matter. The difference is what sits underneath them. Kansanback’s argument is that culture determines whether those inputs produce results. Without it, improvement efforts fail regardless of how much training or technology is added.

He describes the gap as “dark” versus “light” dealerships. Dark environments are defined by passive leadership, management through intimidation, wins highlighted while losses are hidden, and a lack of real accountability. These stores often reveal themselves through end-of-month fire drills that expose missing process.

Light environments are structured differently. They operate with a clear, communicated vision, defined processes across the store, and stated non-negotiables with real consequences. Accountability is built into the system, and continuous learning is expected, not optional.

The transition between the two is operational. It starts with defining a clear vision that connects unit, gross, and F&I goals, then establishing process for every major function. From there, leaders identify non-negotiables, enforce them consistently, ensure the right people are in the right roles, and remove obstacles that prevent the process from working.

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Compliance Has Become Existential

Compliance is no longer a secondary consideration. It is a core operating risk. Kansanback’s point is simple: the cost of non-compliance has increased, and the responsibility does not sit with the dealer alone. Agencies and administrators carry real exposure.

The issue is not awareness. It is execution. Common gaps include a lack of consistent process documentation, over-reliance on verbal agreements, infrequent training cycles, internal audits without objectivity, and incomplete recordkeeping.

The shift is toward treating compliance as an operating system. That means documented processes, frequent training cycles instead of annual refreshers, independent audit structures, and complete digital records.

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Technology as Lever

Kansanback’s framing on AI is practical. It is not a future concept. It is a current lever. The highest-impact applications are already visible, particularly in conversation intelligence for training and compliance monitoring, front-end tools that support pricing and remote transactions, yield optimization, and menu personalization.

The immediate value is visibility. Operators can see what is actually happening inside the store and act on it.

The pattern is consistent. Technology increases visibility, visibility enables accountability, and accountability drives results.

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What the Agency of the Future Looks Like

Taken together, the keynote and the data point to a different operating model. F&I is a primary profit driver, the pressure environment is structural, culture determines whether improvements hold, compliance is a core risk function, and technology is the mechanism that connects all of it.

The agencies that adapt to this model are helping dealers run a tighter system defined by clear expectations, measurable processes, documented compliance, visibility into performance, and consistent accountability.

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Sources

• Kansanback, J. The Future of Automotive Finance and Insurance. Agent Summit Keynote, April 2026
• NADA Data 2025: Annual Financial Profile of America’s Franchised New-Car Dealerships
• Experian Automotive — Q4 2024 and Q4 2025 State of the Automotive Finance Market