Shenzhen, June 11, 2026, Whale joined the Shenzhen Inspection Tour organized by 36Kr Japan — a gathering that brought Japanese business leaders and investors to China for a firsthand look at the country's rapidly evolving EV ecosystem.

Whale's session, "Next-Gen DealerTech & Frontline DX," took on a question that is reshaping the industry: now that Chinese EVs have largely caught up on hardware, where does the next competitive edge come from?

The New Battleground Is Operational Excellence

The answer, Whale argued, is operational excellence. As EV products converge on specifications and price points, the brands pulling ahead are those investing in how they sell and serve customers in the physical world.

"As products converge, customer experience becomes the differentiator," the Whale team noted during the session. "The intelligence layer connecting customers, dealerships, and operations is where the next competitive advantage will be built."

Rethinking Offline Operations Through AI

Whale shared how leading EV brands are deploying SpaceSight and Echo to transform their dealer networks across three areas:

• Digitizing Offline Data — Edge AI and spatial analytics turn physical showrooms into intelligent hubs, surfacing foot traffic patterns and customer behavior that operators could never see before.

• Automating Operations & CX — Smart audio badges give frontline staff real-time visibility into customer interactions, raising service consistency across locations while cutting manual audit costs.

• Maximizing LTV — Offline behavioral data flows into CRM systems to sharpen post-delivery follow-ups, deepen customer retention, and strengthen dealer margins.

What This Means for Japan

As software-defined vehicles continue to evolve, Whale believes the next frontier lies beyond the vehicle itself — in the intelligence layer connecting customers, dealerships, and operations. The company is actively working with automotive brands and dealer networks in Japan, helping them build the operational infrastructure for the next generation of customer engagement.

Whale thanks the 36Kr Japan team for organizing the tour, and Dida Holdings for their hospitality and support.

About Whale

Whale is an enterprise AI platform helping retailers and consumer brands build their own AI partners — intelligent systems that see, hear, express, think, remember, govern, and connect across every layer of operations. With 1,600+ customers, 530,000+ devices deployed, and a presence in 45+ countries, Whale is headquartered in Singapore with offices in San Francisco, Hangzhou, and Tokyo.