Centeca strengthens AI capability with strategic appointment
01.09.26
Centeca, a UK automotive fintech group operating across automotive finance, retail technology and compliance, has appointed its first Head of AI Strategy & Enablement.
The appointment places dedicated leadership behind the development and deployment of AI across the Group, which supports more than 5,500 transacting retailers and facilitates £6.5 billion in platform loan advances annually.
Oliver Northam takes on the newly created role with responsibility for shaping and delivering Centeca’s Group-wide AI strategy. The move builds on activity already underway and formalises Centeca’s approach to developing high-value AI applications with appropriate governance and security, alongside the regulatory controls required by its regulated businesses.
The appointment follows Centeca’s recent launch of a ChatGPT car-search app through its automotive retail technology brand, Click Dealer. Developed by its automotive finance platform, Evolution Funding, the app enables consumers to search more than 120,000 vehicles from independent UK retailers conversationally within ChatGPT before connecting directly with the supplying dealer.
The initiative is an early example of how Centeca is applying generative AI to create new customer experiences and commercial opportunities. It also demonstrates the potential to combine technology, data and market insight from across the Group to develop practical solutions at scale.
Northam moves into the position from his role as Head of Engineering at Evolution Funding. Since joining the business in 2022, he has played a central role in modernising its technology platform, progressing from Development Manager to Head of Engineering.
With more than 15 years’ experience in technology and engineering, Northam has led technical strategy, platform transformation and information security within regulated environments. His work at Evolution Funding has included the migration of complex legacy systems towards an event-driven architecture and the use of AI-assisted analysis to support the transformation of a ten-year-old technology estate.
Paul Saggar, Chief Innovation Officer at Centeca, said:
“AI is changing the way people discover products, interact with digital services and make financial decisions. For Centeca, this creates an opportunity to rethink parts of the automotive journey and develop services that would not previously have been possible.
“The Click Dealer ChatGPT app is an early example of that thinking, creating a new route for consumers to find vehicles and connect directly with independent retailers. But our ambitions extend well beyond a single application.
“Creating this role is a deliberate investment in Centeca’s future. Oli combines deep knowledge of our technology with the experience and judgement needed to give our AI activity clear direction and ensure it contributes meaningfully to the Group’s growth.”
Oliver Northam, Head of AI Strategy & Enablement at Centeca, said:
“I have been passionate about technology for as long as I can remember, and AI is the most significant chapter yet. We now have an opportunity to build on that early progress and make AI a dependable part of how products are developed and businesses operate.
“My priority is to create the foundations that allow good ideas to progress confidently: bringing the right people together, testing where the technology is genuinely useful and applying the standards needed for it to be trusted.
“Centeca has extensive technical knowledge, industry experience and data across the Group. I’m excited to bring those strengths together and help translate them into the next generation of services for our partners and customers.”