Hyundai Capital America Chief Executive Jim Drotman in 2026 is prioritizing investing in AI and technology, improving auto dealer experiences and supporting growth.
The captive’s technology strategies include using AI and modernizing existing platforms, Drotman told FinAi News‘ sister publication Auto Finance News during last week’s 2026 AFSA Vehicle Finance Conference in Las Vegas. Drotman was named CEO of HCA in June 2025.
“The big focus for me is customer experience [for the] customer, dealer and employee,” he said. “We can [create] a holistic experience that’s as seamless as possible for all stakeholders involved in the purchase, servicing and ultimately termination of a vehicle at some point in the process. That’s where a lot of the investment strategy is today.”
The captive is looking at ways AI can be integrated into the overall business, Drotman said, naming underwriting and servicing as examples. Decisions on where the captive makes technology investments are driven in part by feedback from dealers and Hyundai, he added.
“The feedback that we receive … we take those data inputs and we say, ‘Where do we want to make our investments each year?’” he said.
“The feedback that we receive through third-party surveys, directly from our dealers and directly from our OEM, we take those data inputs and we look and say, ‘Where do we want to make our investments each year?’” he said.
AI in underwriting
HCA is also reviewing ways to use AI to speed up processes, Drotman said during a panel discussion at the conference.
“There’s a lot of work within our technology teams that we can leverage AI for scripts and some of the user stories out of legacy platforms and those types of things, where we’re really seeing some nice accelerants or enablers to move more quickly,” he said.
However, while originations, servicing and underwriting pose opportunities for AI integration, lenders must be mindful from a regulatory standpoint, Drotman said during the panel, adding that employees are extensively trained on how to use AI.
“We’ve got to be very careful in some of those areas and make sure we understand exactly what the technologies make decisions on or how they interact,” he said.
“The bigger piece, for me, is around ROI. … [We’re] stepping back now from some of these proofs of concept or some of the integration work that we’ve done, to say ‘What’s the benefit that our customers, our dealers or our employees are getting from the technology?’ That’s the next stage of the journey for us as we start to do more of these tests.”
As of Sept. 30, 2025, HCA had a managed portfolio of $45.6 billion, up 9.3% year over year, according to a Feb. 4 S&P Global presale report of the lender’s $1.6 billion auto asset-backed securitization deal issued today.
Hyundai Motor America’s U.S. sales increased 2% YoY in January to 55,624 units, according to a Feb. 3 release.
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared on Auto Finance News, a sister publication to FinAi News.
