Beyond the Cloud: How Car Washes Are Building the Future of Edge AI

LAS VEGAS, NV – December 09, 2025 – Amid the sprawling halls of the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference, where discussions of hyperscale clouds and generative AI dominate, a presentation on the humble car wash might seem out of place. Yet, it’s here that one of the most compelling case studies on the future of distributed intelligence is unfolding. A collaboration between Sonny’s Enterprises, the world’s largest manufacturer of conveyorized car wash equipment, and ZEDEDA, a leader in edge orchestration, is demonstrating how industrial sectors are becoming the new frontier for AI-driven transformation, far from the traditional confines of the data center.

This partnership, highlighted in a session this week, showcases how Sonny’s is leveraging ZEDEDA’s platform to manage, secure, and analyze data in real time across its vast network of thousands of car wash locations. The initiative is not merely about cleaner cars; it’s a strategic move to slash operational costs, eliminate downtime, and, most importantly, build the foundation for a new generation of AI-powered customer safety and personalization. It serves as a powerful signal that the next wave of technological advantage will be won at the edge, in the complex, real-world environments where business actually happens.

The New Frontier of Industrial Intelligence

The strategic imperative to master the edge is no longer theoretical. Gartner analysts project that by 2025, a staggering 75% of all enterprise data will be generated outside of traditional, centralized data centers or clouds. This deluge of data, originating from factory floors, retail stores, logistics fleets, and even car washes, presents both a monumental challenge and a profound opportunity. For a company like Sonny’s, with thousands of distributed, electromechanical sites, the challenges are acute: ensuring uptime, managing software updates, securing sensitive operational and payment data, and extracting value from the constant stream of information produced by sensors, cameras, and controllers.

Without a modern infrastructure, managing such a heterogeneous and geographically dispersed fleet is a Sisyphean task. Technicians must be dispatched for routine updates or troubleshooting, leading to costly downtime and operational inefficiencies. Scaling new applications or security patches across the network becomes a logistical nightmare, stifling innovation. This complex reality is precisely where the concept of edge orchestration becomes critical. It represents a fundamental shift from a centralized cloud model to a distributed one, where computing power and intelligence are moved closer to the source of data generation.

Orchestrating the Edge: Beyond the Cloud

ZEDEDA’s core mission is to solve this complexity by making edge computing, in their words, “effortless, open, and intrinsically secure.” The company provides an orchestration platform designed to extend the simplicity and scalability of the cloud to the rugged, often-unpredictable world of the edge. In essence, it allows an operator like Sonny’s to manage its thousands of car wash locations as if they were a single, virtual data center. From a central dashboard, they can deploy applications, run AI models, monitor hardware health, and enforce security policies across the entire network with a few clicks.

This capability is a game-changer. It transforms a collection of isolated, high-maintenance assets into a cohesive, intelligent, and remotely manageable infrastructure. ZEDEDA’s platform is built on an open foundation, integrating technologies like Kubernetes to allow for the seamless deployment of containerized applications—including sophisticated AI and machine learning models. This approach not only streamlines current operations but also future-proofs the infrastructure, enabling the rapid adoption of new technologies as they emerge.

The press release highlights this strategic value, with ZEDEDA’s Chief Product Officer, Padraig Stapleton, stating, “By leveraging ZEDEDA to orchestrate and secure their distributed infrastructure, Sonny’s is not only driving massive operational efficiencies and reducing TCO across thousands of sites, but they are also laying the foundation for a new era of AI-driven customer safety and experiences.” This isn't just about replacing manual tasks with automation; it's about creating a platform for continuous innovation.

From Operational Efficiency to Enhanced Safety

The immediate return on investment for Sonny’s is clear and aligns with benefits seen across other industrial sectors adopting edge AI. The ability to deploy predictive maintenance models directly on edge devices at each car wash allows the system to analyze sensor data in real time, detecting subtle anomalies in equipment performance—like unusual vibrations or temperature spikes—that signal an impending failure. This allows maintenance to be scheduled proactively, drastically reducing unplanned downtime, which for a service business translates directly to protected revenue and higher customer satisfaction.

Operational efficiency is further enhanced by optimizing the use of resources like water and cleaning agents based on real-time sensor readings of a vehicle’s size and condition. The reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO) comes from minimizing the need for on-site technician visits, streamlining software management, and extending the life of expensive equipment.

Beyond these immediate financial gains, the collaboration is paving the way for truly transformative applications in customer safety and experience. In the potentially hazardous environment of an automated car wash, edge AI can serve as a vigilant digital guardian. On-site cameras powered by computer vision models can detect if a vehicle is misaligned, if a foreign object is in the wash tunnel, or even if a person has unexpectedly exited their vehicle, immediately halting the system to prevent accidents or damage. This level of real-time responsiveness is impossible with a cloud-only model, where latency would introduce critical delays.

Looking forward, this intelligent edge infrastructure enables a new tier of personalized service. Using vehicle recognition, the system could greet a returning customer by name, recall their preferred wash package, and offer tailored promotions, creating a frictionless and customized experience. The future of the service industry lies in this kind of ambient, invisible intelligence, and it is being built today on the back of robust edge orchestration platforms.