Toma

Big milestone for the Toma team: we’ve raised $17M Series A to continue our mission of building AI Agents for automotive dealerships. Proud of our team, grateful to our partners, and more energized than ever! Check out the full story 👇

Not all AI demos are dealership-ready. Today, countless voice AI companies are popping up with demos that can sound flawless until they face a real-world call with background noise, an irate customer, and a left-field request. Our latest blog article breaks down why most demos are polished highlight reels, not proof of performance. We also discuss what GMs, Fixed Ops Directors, and BDC leaders should demand before signing on with any dealership AI vendor. Read the full guide below to learn how to separate flash from function 👇

We’re thrilled to announce Toma’s sponsorship and participation in the inaugural Automotive AI Summit tomorrow, powered by Dealer Marketing Magazine! This free, on-demand virtual event brings our industry together to foster a community of automotive leaders shaping the future of AI in dealerships. It's the perfect forum for dealership teams looking for answers about AI, its applications, and the future implications of the technology. Join Kyle Morissette and Dave Foy for a panel conversation on why true AI agents need to be taught, not bought, and why coaching your AI just like a new hire will be the smartest move your dealership makes this year.

When we started Toma, our onboarding was do whatever it takes to go live. Over time, we learned that having a great product is *not enough*. The worst thing that can happen is when the problem is validated, everyone is aligned on the value the product brings but the solution never sees the light of the day. A few such instances and we took it to heart. Then, Dave Rocha and team designed one of the best onboarding processes in dealer tech that our customers love beyond the product itself! Most of the credit belongs to our amazing customers - Kyle Morissette from Werner Hyundai who has been fastidious and who “gives a damn” and who makes the process work. I wish a partner like Kyle Morissette who obsessively cares about his customers to every company trying to build something great. That is probably the most important ingredient for a great product. And secondly I wish every company a customer ops team like what Dave Rocha built to give their partners what they truly deserve.

🚨 Voice AI is having its vertical moment. The new wave of voice agents doesn’t just sound human — they understand, adapt, and execute. Why now? Advances in LLMs, real-time voice infra, and deep domain data unlock agents that actually work in verticals like: 🩺 Healthcare: automating intake & insurance 🚛 Logistics: brokering routes and negotiating contracts 📈 Finance: servicing loans and ensuring compliance Anna Chen and I mapped the space in our latest post. We’d love your thoughts: 👉 Which verticals do you think are next? 👉 What’s your favorite use case or company?

Toma’s Referral Program is officially live! Know a dealership that could use a personalized AI agent? Send them our way. You get $250 cash. They get 1 free month of Toma. It’s open to everyone, including current customers, vendors, and your grandma who always complains about her local dealership. There’s no limit to how many referrals you can send (or how much cash you can earn). Whether you spend your referral reward on 837 bananas, a sushi boat, or your next theme park excursion, that’s between you and your wallet. Grab your unique referral link below to spread the word! 👇 https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/e9jV2h_9

Toma is honored to be featured in Charisma! Communications Insights "AI in the Service Drive" and "AI Vendor Guide" reports! As AI continues to evolve in automotive retail, these reports are must-reads for dealership leaders navigating how, where, and when to implement it, especially in Fixed Ops, where the phone never stops ringing and every missed call is a missed opportunity. At Toma, we’ve built personalized AI agents alongside the service advisors, Fixed Ops Directors, and GMs who use them every day. Being interviewed for these reports is a reflection of that hard work, and a signal that the industry is starting to recognize the critical role of voice AI in dealership operations. If your team is thinking about AI, this is the resource to start with. Download both reports below 👇

The Toma engineers have been busy in the lab, tightening up the CX. In our latest update, we’ve released the following: Smoother Customer Interactions → Upgraded to SOTA transcription models for sharper accuracy in real-world dealership environments → Improved turn-taking and interruption handling for more natural, human-like conversations → Enhanced reliability on action calls with fewer "can you repeat that?" moments, and more booked appointments These aren’t headline-grabbers, but they’re the kind of upgrades that reduce friction, boost CSI, and make every call feel a lot less robotic. If you want to build AI agents that get used (and appreciated) in the wild, we’re hiring. 👇

How do you deploy voice AI for dealerships without making customers feel like you've replaced quality service with a cheap robot? Get it wrong, and they might just hang up frustrated and call your competitor down the street. Deploy it too fast, and your CSI takes a hit, bleeding retention. Deploy it too slowly, and your team can’t reach out to lost souls, customers with declined services, and open recalls. Deploy it just right, and you’ll stop missing status calls or losing new business in the voicemail void. With the right approach, your margins will lift, and the customers IN your drive will start getting the attention they deserve. When I joined Toma, I knew we’d be working in sensitive territory. These aren’t routine back-office tasks. We’re talking about inbound calls, scheduling requests, missed voicemails, and that crucial first “hello” when a customer reaches out. Every call has revenue implications. Toma lives on the front lines of the store where service revenue starts, trust is earned, and every impression counts towards your CSI score. That’s why we believe in the Crawl-Walk-Run approach when deploying Toma’s AI agents. Crawl: You don’t just throw an AI agent on the phone and hope for the best. You train it by uploading ticket transcripts, help center docs, call logs, and all those internal cheat sheets your team uses. You wouldn’t leave a new hire out to dry with no training. So, why would you do the same for AI? You, your team, and your Toma rep are tasked with breaking the AI with every edge case, recall inquiry, and transportation request you can think of. Walk: Once your AI is acclimated to your store’s nuances, you can offload the repetitive inquiries. Let the AI check for recalls, and then schedule that 10am oil change. When your team trains the AI, they learn how flexible it is; they learn to trust its capabilities. Once it begins to own its first set of tasks (15-25% of call volumes), you start to see just how fast a dealership can find more time. Run: Only when the AI is sporting a high resolution rate do we start shifting towards 100% ownership of your inbound calls and appointment scheduling. This isn’t about displacement. It’s about giving your staff the capacity to drive more business. Because when your BDC isn’t fielding an onslaught of inbound calls… They can put the ‘Business’ back in Business Development Center.

Everyone wants the AI magic trick. But for dealerships, the real magic starts with knowing where the rabbit isn't. Toma CAN schedule appointments 24/7, route & filter calls, automate confirmations & reminders, and field 3 out of every 4 inbound calls without a staff member. Toma CAN’T (yet) provide real-time RO status, resolve rare edge cases, nor replace the empathy behind high-touch interactions. And that’s the point. Our AI is only so good. We don’t offer a silver bullet. We offer dealership-grade AI that learns your store, your workflows, and your most common inquiries to save your team valuable time. The dealers getting the most out of Toma right now didn’t flip a switch and call it a day. They started small in the service bays and gradually scaled into a full end-to-end receptionist, integrating into every department. Start your AI where it helps, not where it replaces. That’s how you scale trust with new tech for yourself and your customers AND get real results.