Jeannie Cahalane
Lumivar is rethinking how the automotive industry handles customer service and operations. Founded by Max Amunategui and team after seeing the inefficiencies firsthand, Lumivar is building an AI operating system that connects fragmented workflows, automates repetitive tasks, and empowers parts distributors and service centers to move faster and serve customers better.
1.What inspired you to start Lumivar, and what critical automotive service challenges were you determined to solve?
Max Amunategui: Through our experience with our previous startup, we worked very close with car parts sellers and saw first hand the inefficiencies in the automotive industry. We saw how messy, manual and disconnected all the internal processes and workflows were. And how this was affecting their sales, customer experience and growth.
Businesses are literally drowning in phone calls and messages asking technical stuff like parts compatibility, vehicle data and servicing needs. And in order to answer them, they have to deal with multiple steps through different legacy softwares in a highly manual way.
We knew there was a better way and that’s when we decided to go all in. Our first idea was to build an AI Agent that understood the technical language of the industry, and could go through these softwares to solve part compatibility and help parts distributors handle their inbound sales.
But since then, our vision has evolved and even though our first use case remains the same, we are building a bigger solution: An AI Operating System for the Automotive industry, designed to finally streamline manual processes, connect fragmented systems, and automate how key stakeholders interact.
2.What gaps in traditional automotive customer service made AI-driven automation essential?
Max Amunategui: Traditional call centers are expensive, have a long onboarding period, and get overwhelmed easily at high demand times. Teams have to manually search through multiple softwares and databases for things like parts compatibility, matching customers’ inquiries with VIN numbers, reference IDs, and stock databases, in order to offer the exact part the customer is looking for.
The process is complicated and slow, which hurts customer satisfaction and sales directly. Customers want fast, reliable responses because nobody likes leaving their car stuck in a garage longer than needed.
Right now, companies are struggling to manage this manually. That’s why they’re turning to AI agents, which make the process faster and smoother.
3.How does Lumivar differentiate itself from other AI-based customer engagement solutions?
Max Amunategui: First thing would be, that we don’t see ourselves as an “AI-based customer engagement solution”, we are not just another AI chatbot. Lumivar, is the AI Operating System for the Automotive Industry. Think of it as an AI layer that has been specifically designed for the sector. We are the glue between fragmented solutions and through AI agents, we automate the manual tasks that are slowing down the industry.
Our goal is to create an Automotive intelligence that powers AI Agents, with deep understanding of parts compatibility, vehicle servicing needs, and industry-specific processes. This way, we can shape it into different workflows, business roles or agents that can handle not only customer support roles, but also sales, operational tasks and many more
Another key difference is that while many AI solutions focus only on automation, we focus on building trust in every interaction. We don’t want our Agents to just spit out answers, we want them to genuinely help customers make confident decisions. The idea is to create a natural and helpful experience, unlike the generic chatbots people are used to.
4.What are the biggest misconceptions about AI-powered customer service, and how do you address them?
Max Amunategui: One thing we hear a lot is that customers expect AI to feel cold and robotic. And honestly, they’re right to feel that way. Most people’s experiences with AI have been pretty frustrating. But the specialized AI we’re building at Lumivar is a different story.
Our agents have a deep understanding of specific industry workflows. They are context aware and can access live inventory, compatibility data and other business tools instantly. They respond in a natural, and helpful way. They guide you through the process like an automotive expert would do.
We’re not trying to replace human teams or their interactions. We want to empower them by eliminating the tedious and repetitive tasks. This way, they can focus their energy on actually meaningful tasks, and drive their businesses forward.
5.Lumivar’s AI agents handle inbound calls, bookings, and customer queries. How do they enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction?
Max Amunategui: We improve efficiency for businesses by automating repetitive tasks, reducing manual errors, and streamlining key workflows. This way, teams can focus on high value tasks rather than going through manual and lengthy procedures.
At the same time, we also provide a better customer satisfaction by providing quick and accurate responses about availability, compatibility, booking options, and more. Reducing customer frustration and wait times.
Faster response times leads to happier customers. Automated processes lead to lower operational costs. And optimized workflows lead to higher service capacity and revenue growth.
6.What role does AI play in reducing missed opportunities and increasing service center efficiency?
Max Amunategui: AI agents make sure that no customer is lost due to missed calls, slow responses, or inaccurate answers. Right now, 80% of workshop’s appointments are still booked manually by phone. And a lot of these calls go unanswered, because they either don’t have the time to answer or are already talking to other customers.
Our agents can handle multiple ongoing customer conversations in a fast and reliable way. They can book appointments, send reminders to reduce no-shows, and make sure businesses are fully booked without overwhelming their teams.
This way, car mechanics can focus on what they do best, and leave the rest to the AI.
7.How does Lumivar integrate with existing automotive service tools like DMS, CRM, and inventory management systems?
Max Amunategui: We connect via APIs, webhooks, or direct database access, allowing real-time data exchange. Our goal is to eliminate fragmented workflows and manual processes by embedding AI automation directly into existing tools.
This means our agents can search for parts using license plates, VINs, or reference numbers, fetching stock availability, pricing, and alternatives. They can log interactions, update customer records, and automate follow-ups without requiring manual data entry. And book appointments and sync them with workshop calendars.
We also integrate with WhatsApp, web chat, phone calls, and email, ensuring a unified experience across customer touchpoints.
We still have a long road ahead of us to cover the majority of management systems, but we are moving fast and are working every day to integrate more and more tools that our customers use.
8.Which automotive businesses—dealerships, parts sellers, or service centers—have seen the biggest impact from Lumivar’s technology?
Max Amunategui: So far, parts distributors have seen the biggest impact, since they’ve been our primary focus in this stage. These businesses deal with a huge volume of daily inquiries (calls, WhatsApp messages, emails), all from customers trying to confirm whether a part is compatible with their vehicle, whether it’s in stock, and how much it costs.
Before, a lot of these questions were handled manually, leading to bottlenecks, missed sales, and bad customer experience, especially during peak hours. But now, our AI agents step in to take care of those repetitive but critical tasks.
9.What have been the biggest challenges in scaling Lumivar, and how did you overcome them?
Max Amunategui: One of the biggest challenges has been going through the complexity and fragmentation of the automotive ecosystem. Each business uses different tools and data structures. To overcome this, we took a focused vertical approach: starting with parts distributors and building deep integrations tailored to their systems and needs.
Another one was setting up our technical support agent. Accuracy and reliability in this sector are the most important things. A single mistake, like suggesting the wrong part, can immediately break trust and increase operational costs. So we have spent a lot of time fine-tuning, building automotive-specific logic, and integrating real-time data. This ensures our agent delivers precise and context-aware responses, while providing real value from day one.
10.AI-driven automation in customer service comes with ethical considerations. How do you balance automation with personalization?
Max Amunategui: We see automation and personalization as complementary. Our Agents are designed to understand the context of each inquiry, and respond in a way that feels tailored.
We only use data customers have already willingly shared with the business, and they love it. Customers really appreciate it when you remember their email, preferred payment method, or other details they’ve previously shared. Nobody wants to repeat the same information over and over again.
Being transparent is also very important. Customers always know they’re interacting with an AI agent, and we offer easy handoffs to human support when needed.
11.What does success look like for you and Lumivar in the next 5–10 years?
Max Amunategui: For us, success would mean becoming the core AI infrastructure for the automotive industry. In the next 5 to 10 years, Lumivar will support thousands of businesses and power hundreds of AI agents across a wide range of roles.
In the future, AI will no longer be a “nice to have”, and we want to be the backbone of how the industry operates day-to-day. A specialized intelligence layer that truly understands the language, systems, and nuances of the automotive sector.
We want to finally eliminate the manual and inefficient processes in an industry that has been trying to keep up with digitization. Our goal is to help thousands of businesses run better and more profitably.
12.What does a typical day look like for you as founders, and how do you stay motivated?
Max Amunategui: Our day starts early, usually grabbing coffee and catching up on product updates, customer needs or some stoppers that we might find. Then we split, and I focus heavily on clients, checking CRM, following up leads, and making outreach calls. My co-founder dives deep into technical and product development.
Midday, I spend time on product and roadmap work. Since I’m directly interacting with customers, it helps keep the product focused on real needs.
Motivation-wise, honestly, it’s the customer feedback. When someone says, “You just made my day easier,” that’s incredibly energizing and keeps us going.
Editor’s Note
Max Amunategui’s vision for Lumivar shows how deep industry experience can drive real innovation. In this interview, he shares how Lumivar is going beyond chatbots to deliver specialized AI agents that streamline operations, boost customer satisfaction, and modernize the automotive industry from the inside out.
