Toyota Motor Corporation, a global automotive leader, has long stood as a symbol of manufacturing excellence and continuous improvement. With more than 380,000 employees worldwide and over 10 million vehicles sold annually, Toyota’s commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability has shaped its legacy for nearly a century. At its North American operations, Toyota continues to advance its digital transformation journey — harnessing the power of data, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation not just in its vehicles, but across the entire enterprise.

In this exclusive three-part interview series, Brian Kursar, Group Vice President and Head of Enterprise AI at Toyota Motor North America, sits down with Lance Walter, CMO at Prophecy, to break down how Toyota is embedding AI throughout its organization. In this first installment, Kursar reflects on Toyota’s AI adoption journey, bridging generational knowledge gaps, and why responsible data practices are the bedrock of AI innovation.

From supply chain to enterprise AI leader

Kursar’s journey with Toyota spans more than two decades. Starting in vehicle supply chain systems, his early exposure to large-scale operational data ignited a deeper passion for turning data into a strategic advantage. “I started off writing test harnesses for our global supply chain systems. Around 2012, I helped establish our first data science organization and by 2013, we had solidified a data-driven culture across Toyota.”

That cultural shift laid the foundation for what would become a far-reaching AI initiative, grounded in enterprise-wide optimization and empowerment.

Accelerating human intelligence with AI

Toyota’s current approach to AI centers on practical impact — enhancing employee productivity and amplifying institutional knowledge. “We started with the recognition that AI could accelerate human intelligence, helping employees automate mundane tasks and make faster, smarter decisions.”

A prime example is Gear Pal, a homegrown AI-powered assistant that pulls data from disparate systems including historical service logs, ticketing systems, and even digitized VHS recordings to help manufacturing engineers resolve equipment issues quickly.

“Before Gear Pal, diagnosing an issue could take five to six hours. Now it takes two to three minutes, thanks to bots that consolidate and contextualize all the relevant information.”

Solving the experience gap with AI assistants

One of the most compelling use cases for AI at Toyota is knowledge transfer. As seasoned technicians approach retirement, newer employees often face steep learning curves. AI tools like Gear Pal help bridge that gap.

“You can’t expect someone with three years of experience to operate like someone with 30 years. But you can give them tools that surface the right information at the right time to accelerate learning and decision-making,” Kursar explains.

The AI assistant has already proven its worth in high-pressure moments — reducing stress, improving shift efficiency, and helping less experienced workers become more effective.

Building the right structure for enterprise AI

Before scaling AI initiatives, Kursar and his team took a step back to rethink how AI, especially GenAI, would operate within Toyota’s existing data and compliance frameworks.

To ensure AI was deployed ethically and effectively, Toyota established a Responsible AI Organization — a multi-disciplinary governance body that brought together leaders from enterprise AI, data, compliance, privacy, legal, and cybersecurity. This unified review board focused on three key priorities:

• Educate internal teams on what GenAI does — and doesn’t do — to build enterprise-wide understanding.
• Ensure ethical alignment by staying “above the board” on every decision regarding AI implementation.
• Prioritize customer trust, ensuring that all AI and data initiatives directly benefit customers, comply with regulations, and operate with explicit consent.

“We view this as making sure that the data works for our customers and that AI is used in the most responsible and respectful way possible. That was paramount in bringing it all together,” Kursar adds.

CDO Magazine appreciates Brian Kursar for sharing his insights with our global community.