Brian Garofola
Chief Technology OfficerVibesBrian Garofola is the Chief Technology Officer of Vibes, the only US-based Tier 1 direct-connect messaging aggregator and a recognized Gartner Leader in mobile engagement. At Vibes, Brian leads all Product, Engineering, IT, and Security initiatives, overseeing a platform that delivers billions of mobile experiences per month for brands including Ford, Allstate, Ralph Lauren, Chipotle, and Discover, consistently generating 300 to 400% higher ROI than traditional channels.
Before joining Vibes, Brian spent over a decade at CDK Global, the technology backbone of automotive retail worldwide, where he rose from Software Engineer to Vice President of Engineering. In that role, he was responsible for the platform engineering that powers end-to-end automotive commerce across dealerships nationwide. His combination of deep automotive industry expertise and leadership at the frontier of mobile technology makes him one of a very small number of people who can speak to both the technical architecture of RCS and the specific operational realities of automotive retail.
Brian is a recognized leader in platform strategy, cloud-native architecture, agile product development, and business transformation. He writes on technology and engineering leadership and is an active voice in both the mobile technology and automotive technology communities.
RCS: The Channel That Will Redefine How Dealerships Sell and Service Cars
The text message has been the workhorse of dealership communication for a decade, and it's about to be replaced by something dramatically more powerfu
…The text message has been the workhorse of dealership communication for a decade, and it's about to be replaced by something dramatically more powerful. RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next-generation messaging standard now live on every iPh
…The text message has been the workhorse of dealership communication for a decade, and it's about to be replaced by something dramatically more powerful. RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next-generation messaging standard now live on every iPhone and Android device in America, built directly into the native messaging app consumers already use every day. No app download. No new platform to learn. Just an exponentially richer experience deli
…The text message has been the workhorse of dealership communication for a decade, and it's about to be replaced by something dramatically more powerful. RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next-generation messaging standard now live on every iPhone and Android device in America, built directly into the native messaging app consumers already use every day. No app download. No new platform to learn. Just an exponentially richer experience delivered in the channel your customers are already in.
Dealership leaders will learn exactly what RCS is in this session, as well as why it matters right now, and how to deploy it in a way that produces measurable results fast. Attendees will see real use cases built specifically for automotive: interactive inventory carousels that let buyers browse vehicles without leaving their messages, one-tap service scheduling with calendar integration, verified brand identities that replace phone numbers with dealership logos, GPS-powered directions to the lot, advisor selection, and real-time two-way conversation, all in a single message thread.
This isn't a "future of technology" session. RCS is live, it's proven, and the dealerships that adopt it in the next 12 months will own a channel advantage their competitors won't be able to close quickly. Come learn what it is, what it can do for your store, and how to launch it before the lot down the street does.
Key Takeaways:
- Explain what RCS is and why it’s different from SMS, MMS, and OTT apps like WhatsApp, and why it matters specifically for automotive retail, and benchmark current SMS and digital engagement performance against RCS performance data to understand the revenue gap being left on the table
- Identify the highest-impact RCS use cases for their dealership across sales, service, and consumer retention, with concrete and immediately applicable examples
- Understand what a dealership needs to launch RCS, and develop a prioritized action plan for piloting RCS at their store or group within 90 days
