Monik Pamecha never pictured himself elbow deep in the world of American car dealerships.
Launching Toma with co-founder Anthony Krivonos, Pamecha’s AI talents were initially set on banking and healthcare. Plans changed abruptly when car dealers reached out with a candid plea for help. Their phones barely stopped ringing and no one could keep up with the flood of customer requests.
Hungry for answers, the founders shifted their focus. They unleashed their voice agent to call every dealership they could find, again and again. Shockingly, less than half the calls were picked up.
Rather than chalk the discovery to market research, Pamecha and Krivonos hit the road. Their mission took them to twelve dealerships in Oklahoma and Mississippi. The duo spent their days learning every quirk, nuance, and challenge of the trade.
They would return home covered in grease, much to Pamecha’s wife’s amusement and slight bewilderment. That hands-on grit bought them more than just technical insight.
Dealers invited them to family barbecues and home-cooked dinners. These gatherings could get awkward, since Pamecha’s vegetarian habits clashed with local cuisine, but laughter bridged any gaps. The team even wound up at a shooting range—an experience that was distinctly outside their usual tech bubble.
Why Toma’s AI Stuck in Car Dealer Culture
This deep integration was not lost on investors. Seema Amble from a16z, who led the recent funding round for dealership-focused AI agents, noted that the pair became fixtures at these dealerships. They absorbed every detail by really living the life of their potential customers.
With these insights, Toma refined its AI. Multiple dealerships now rely on it to answer questions, handle parts requests, schedule appointments, and smooth out the chaos that comes with unpredictable phone traffic.
Yossi Levi, also called the Car Dealership Guy and now an investor, described the challenge. Volume shifts constantly, making staffing a gamble. Matching the rush or lull is a headache, and no one can train every receptionist for the unpredictable.
Toma’s AI adapts to each location. During onboarding, the system learns from calls specific to the dealer, picking up on everything from special engine types to quirky promotions. If the AI gets stumped, it hands over to a human, and those moments become valuable training for future calls.
These smart touches won over a growing customer list. Early backers also include Y Combinator and Scale Angels Fund.
The company charges a subscription, and as Toma’s AI takes on more tasks, costs scale with capability. Only recently did Toma move beyond founder-led sales, hiring its first real sales rep.
For Pamecha, none of this would have happened if he and Krivonos had skipped the tour through the South. The experience, he says, didn’t just open business doors; it created a sense of camaraderie and forged friendships born from a genuine understanding of the struggles in the business, similar to other stories where artificial intelligence is reshaping traditional industries.
