F

Flai

24/7 AI assistant for automotive dealerships

Head of Marketing

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/4/2026
$180k - $230k/yr+ Equity
Expert
San Francisco, CA, USA
In PersonIn-person at the San Francisco office five days a week.

About the job

Requirements
  • At least 4 years of experience in product marketing, brand marketing, or growth marketing at a high-growth technology company.
  • Experience owning the top-of-funnel marketing function at an early-stage startup.
  • Comfort building a marketing function from zero, identifying important problems, determining solutions, and demonstrating results.
Responsibilities
  • Work directly with the founders to shape the company’s brand, tell customer stories, launch products, and develop a differentiated identity.
  • Determine product positioning, value propositions, differentiators, buyer-focused language, and distribution across channels.
  • Set positioning that can scale as the product expands, and manage how new offerings are introduced over time.
  • Translate customer results into case studies, benchmark data, and verifiable proof of operational impact.
  • Scale referrals and field events to reach dealership owners and operators, then test other growth channels.
  • Develop and iteratively refine sales narratives, competitive positioning, and proof-point assets for account executives.
  • Scale effective marketing processes through automation and, when needed, additional headcount.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience selling into real-world industries, mid-market segments, or low-trust segments.
  • Experience managing or mentoring a marketing teammate.
  • Experience across other go-to-market functions.

About the company

Flai provides AI-powered assistants for automotive dealerships to handle 24/7 communications. Its core product is an AI agent that handles inbound/outbound calls, texts, and emails to schedule test drives, service appointments, and recall campaigns without human intervention. It integrates with a dealership's DMS and CRM to access and update customer data, and provides full call logs for transparency. Flai aims to prevent revenue loss from missed after-hours leads by delivering continuous, multi-channel lead coverage and fast deployment that fits existing dealership workflows.

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Seed

Total Funding

$10.6M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2025

Get referred to Flai

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Flai extended seed funding to $6 million with Toyota Ventures in 2026.
  • Dealers are already adopting AI; Flai cites 74% investing and 40% using AI.
  • Y Combinator listed Flai active in 2026, signaling continued hiring and momentum.

What critics are saying

  • Sierra-like incumbent voice agents can bundle dealership workflows and crush Flai pricing by 2027.
  • Private partner-gated Tekion connectivity limits distribution if ARC priorities shift in 2026.
  • Automotive AI failures create angry-customer escalations, dealer churn, and brand-damaging call transcripts.

What makes Flai unique

  • Tekion integration gives Flai embedded access to ARC sales, CRM, parts, and service.
  • YC Summer 2025 and First Round back a focused automotive-only communications stack.
  • 24/7 multi-channel automation spans calls, SMS, email, recall outreach, and appointment booking.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Remote Work Options

Company Equity

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

↑ 0%

1 year growth

↑ 0%

2 year growth

↑ 0%
Medium
Jan 29th, 2026
The AI-Native Dealership: Our Investment in Flai

As customer expectations evolve, automotive retailers are navigating a period of significant operational change. While the global Dealer…

Flai
Dec 2nd, 2025
Flai Integrates with Tekion to Enhance Connectivity Across the Automotive Ecosystem

Flai integrates with Tekion to enhance connectivity across the automotive ecosystem. API integration supports data sharing and collaboration for technology partners serving dealers and OEMs. Flai, an AI communications platform for dealerships, today announced an integration with Tekion, innovator of the first end-to-end*, AI-native cloud platform serving the entire automotive retail ecosystem. This collaboration aims to expand the connected partner ecosystem within Tekion's Automotive Partner Cloud (APC), enhancing operational efficiency through enhanced data connectivity. Flai automates communications for dealerships with AI, handling inbound calls, outbound outreach, text messaging, and email to help capture leads, schedule service and sales appointments, and maintain consistent follow-up. Through this partnership with Tekion, dealers can now connect Flai's AI communications platform with Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC). This connection helps dealers improve information flow between systems and reduces manual data entry, empowering teams to make faster, more informed decisions. The integration helps dealerships handle every phone call, book more service appointments and sales visits, and follow up with customers and staff through text and email. "Dealerships are looking for ways to handle more customer interactions with less friction," said Ari Polakof, Co-Founder and CEO of Flai. "Integrating Flai with Tekion enables stores to respond instantly to every call and follow up via SMS or email, so staff can focus on delivering a great customer experience." Tekion's ARC is the first and fastest cloud-native platform including all functionalities of a DMS, CRM and accompanying tech stack to run a seamless retail business. Through the ARC platform, Tekion APC brings together a growing network of approved partners focused on driving innovation, efficiency, and choice for dealers. The Flai/Tekion integration within ARC Sales, CRM, Parts and Service supports operational efficiency, simplifies processes, and enhances visibility for dealership staff and consumers alike. About Flai. Flai is an AI-powered communications platform for automotive dealerships. Flai automates inbound and outbound phone calls, text messaging, and email so dealers can capture leads, book more service and sales appointments, and keep follow-ups consistent. About Tekion. Tekion is redefining automotive retail with its end-to-end AI platform purpose-built for the industry. By embedding AI into every workflow, Tekion delivers intelligent automation, real-time insights, and advanced decision support - driving efficiency, revenue, and modern consumer experiences. As the first and fastest cloud-native platform for automotive, Tekion brings OEMs, dealers, partners, and consumers together through its revolutionary suite: Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) for retailers, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) for manufacturers and large automotive enterprises, and Automotive Partner Cloud (APC) for technology and industry partners. With AI-powered, cloud-native technology, Tekion enables the most seamless, transparent, and profitable retail experiences in the industry. For more information, visit www.tekion.com. *End-to-end refers to its integrated data management platform covering all automotive business functions. Disclaimer: Tekion does not endorse or recommend any specific partner solution; dealers are encouraged to evaluate and select partners based on their own business needs.

Flai
Oct 8th, 2025
Flai raises $4.5M

AI assistants for car dealerships

Mirtech
Oct 3rd, 2025
Flai is the newest startup introducing AI solutions for car dealerships

Recently, Flai secured a $4.5 million seed funding round to accelerate its growth.

AInvest Fintech Inc.
Oct 3rd, 2025
Flai Raises $4.5M for AI Software

Flai, an AI startup for car dealerships, has secured a $4.5M seed round to expand its AI-driven software designed for dealership operations. The software integrates phone, email, and text communications, competing with other startups and traditional voice response systems.