**Tampa, Florida – March 27, 2023** -- STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, announced the promotion of Cate Hegarty to lead its customer success team as Director of Customer Success.  

Cate Hegarty, originally hired as Director of Enterprise Dealer Logistics, made an immediate impact with her fixed ops expertise. Cate brings a passion for dealers as well as robust analytics skills to this role. Cate came to STELLA from Cox Automotive where she was a Regional Sales Manager at Xtime. 

Cate holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business from University of New Hampshire and is working towards a Master’s degree in Data Science from the Harvard Extension School, a division of Harvard University. 

“Cate brings extensive dealership operations expertise to this role. With her leading our customer success program, I am confident that dealers will immediately see results when implementing STELLA,” says Eric Painter, National Sales Director. 

For more information about how the STELLA’s digital voice assistant can empower your new or used car dealership, please contact us at[ www.stellaautomotive.com](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) or 727-955-3550. 

**About STELLA Automotive AI**
[STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com) helps dealers with a major pain point which is answering telephones and engaging with customers. STELLA is trained to deliver exceptional customer experiences through consistent branding, flawless dialogs, and the delivery and collection of essential data. With STELLA, dealers free up staff to focus on sales and in-dealership service while STELLA handles inbound calls, answers questions, finds and books appointments and takes messages. With a U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Florida, STELLA is powered by Telepathy Labs, Inc, a world-class AI technology provider. For more information, visit our [website](https://www.stellaautomotive.com), like us on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Stella.Automotive), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stella-automotive-ai/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StellaforAuto), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftR0XbhcnkHMCKVt5yZIUw), or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/stella.automotive/). 


**For Media Inquiries, contact:**
Jennifer Sanford
Vice President of Marketing
[Jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com](mailto:jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com)






STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, announced the promotion of Cate Hegarty to lead its customer success team as Director of Customer Success.  


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STELLA™ Automotive AI Taps Cate Hegarty to lead Customer Success Program

By Auto Remarketing:
To wrap up our series of podcasts from NADA Show 2023 in Dallas, STELLA Automotive AI Ben Okuka joins the show.

Okuka talks with Cherokee Media Group senior editor Joe Overby about artificial intelligence and how it can help dealers become more efficient.

STELLA Conversational AI is designed to understand natural language and how to derive meaning behind it. STELLA handles routine tasks to help dealers become more efficient. 

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Auto Remarketing Podcast - How AI can help dealers become more efficient.

Auto Remarketing - Ben Okuka.mp4

[Originally seen on Auto Success magazine](https://www.autosuccessonline.com/3-ways-conversational-ai-yields-more-satisfied-employees/)

By: Jennifer Sanford
Jennifer Sanford is the vice president of marketing and industry relations at Telepathy Labs for STELLA Automotive.

It’s 2023. Your dealership has survived a global pandemic and a challenging workforce for two years. Now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — and every media outlet — is forecasting a recession.1 It’s been a rollercoaster the past couple of years not only for your business or your customers, but also for your staff. Given that companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable than those with low engagement2, it’s critical to get a handle on this now. The only question is how. How do you keep automotive employees satisfied and thriving at your dealership — regardless of whether you have a single point store or a large dealer group? 

While there are a lot of areas that you could tackle — pay plans and commissions, for example — there are three small changes that can make a big impact.

**1. Provide Additional Training & Specialized Skills**
Good employees want to grow their skill sets while working for your business. Investing in training attracts better employees, and helps you retain them as well. In a survey conducted by Better Buys to 2,000 working professionals, 92% said that having access to professional development was important.3 The same study also found that employee retention increases by 34% when training and professional development opportunities are provided to staff. 

With 4.2 million Americans quitting their jobs in November 2022, providing access to specialized learning can help prevent your dealership’s employees from being a part of this statistic.4

Even if you did offer professional development or training opportunities, how do you create time for your employees to take advantage of them? The answer is simple — by removing redundant tasks.

**2. Remove Redundant Tasks from Their Workload &  
3. Honor Their Time Off**
Points 2 and 3  work hand-in-hand. If your service advisors or highly trained business development representatives spend all their work hours scheduling customer appointments, that’s a waste of their potential. It’s also a poor use of the salary you are paying them. Remove the redundant tasks — the oil change scheduling or the appointment confirmations — and suddenly, they not only have available time to learn new skills, but also time to focus better on serving customers and solving complex problems. 

Conversely, if your employees are not able to take necessary time off or have a backlog of voicemails to catch up on when they leave the dealership to go home at night, they will get burned out and leave. 

So, how do you remove redundant tasks from your employees’ roles and not worry about those same tasks at night, over the weekend or during the holidays? The answer is including intelligent conversational AI in your dealership. True conversational AI is just that — a conversation that the customer has with your store. It’s not a menu of options or limited selection. It’s as if the customer is talking to an employee regardless of whether he or she calls day or night, weekday or weekend. Want to remove your appointment scheduling tasks to free up your employees? Conversational AI can handle that. Want to offer appointment confirmations over the phone but don’t want your employees spending hours on that? Conversational AI can handle that too. 

Implementing intelligent conversational AI software in your store — whether in sales or service — is truly putting your employees first. It is choosing to help your employees’ career growth by honoring their time and leveraging their individual skill sets. It is partnering to remove the redundancies so that your staff enjoys working for your dealership. Want to begin offering development opportunities but need to create time for your employees to take advantage of them? It can help with that too. Intelligent conversational AI is a win for your staff, your customers and your managers. It’s a win for your entire dealership business.  

Sources:
1: What to Expect for the Economy in 2023 | U.S. Chamber of Commerce (uschamber.com)
2: Four Ways to Improve Employee Engagement at Your Dealership (cbtnews.com)
3: The Impact of Professional Development: Exclusive Research (betterbuys.com)
4: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary – 2022 M11 Results (bls.gov)

Implementing conversational AI software in your store — in sales or service — is truly putting your employees first.

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Auto Success February- 3 Ways Conversational AI Yields More Satisfied Employees

Tampa, Florida – March 1, 2023-- STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, has announced two new hires to the Sales department.  

-	May deLoach has joined the Sales team as the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Territory Sales Director. May has a deep understanding of dealership processes and a passion to help dealers find the right solutions to fit their needs. Prior to STELLA, May worked at Cox Automotive within the vAuto and NextGear Capital business units.

-	Lindsay Llewellyn has joined the Sales team as Territory Sales Director in the Central Region. Lindsay is passionate about the automotive industry and is a self-proclaimed Dealer Advocate. Her past SAAS roles have had a strong focus in CRM, Digital Marketing, and AI. She previously directed Strategic Partnerships for Conversica. 

“May and Lindsay bring incredible professionalism and drive to our sales team. They are well-liked by dealers and will help STELLA manage and scale its incredible growth,” says Eric Painter, National Sales Director for STELLA Automotive AI. 

For more information about how the STELLA digital voice assistant can empower your dealership, please contact us at [www.stellaautomotive.com](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) or 727-955-3550. 

 
**About STELLA Automotive AI** 
[STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) helps dealers with a major pain point which is answering telephones and engaging with customers.  STELLA is trained to deliver exceptional customer experiences through consistent branding, flawless dialogs, and the delivery and collection of essential data.  With STELLA, dealers free up staff to focus on sales and in-dealership service while STELLA handles inbound calls, answers questions, finds and books appointments and takes messages.  With a U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Florida, STELLA is powered by Telepathy Labs, Inc, a world-class AI technology provider.    For more information, visit our [website](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/), like us on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Stella.Automotive), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stella-automotive-ai), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StellaforAuto), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftR0XbhcnkHMCKVt5yZIUw) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/stella.automotive/).  
 
 
**For Media Inquiries, contact: **
Jennifer Sanford 
Vice President of Marketing 
Jennifer.Sanford@stellaautomotive.com 


STELLA Automotive AI has announced two new hires to the Sales department.  

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STELLA™ Automotive AI Expands Sales Team Roster

**Tampa, Florida – February 23, 2023--** STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, has named David Kaffenberger as the Engineering Director of Partner Integrations, a newly created role for the company.  

Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, David is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of partner integrations to benefit our diverse portfolio of dealership customers.  

“David brings a unique combination of retail dealership experience and software product engineering skills to this role. He is keenly aware of the importance of seamless software integrations to successful day-to-day dealership operations. His advanced knowledge of software solutions in the Parts & Service marketplace has proven valuable to customers and teams alike,” said Stephen Brown, Chief Technology Officer.

“Car dealerships deserve products that not only work but also work well with others.  I am excited to be a part of the STELLA team.  The product is incredible and adds value to the dealers and our valued partners,” said David.  

In addition to product and engineering roles outside automotive, David has 5 years of in-dealership experience and has been involved in building inventory solutions for two OEMs as well as multiple third party integrations supporting sales, service, and parts. 

David holds a Computer Engineering degree and MBA with a concentration in Information Systems from the University of Michigan.  

For more information about how the STELLA digital voice assistant can empower your dealership, please contact us at [www.stellaautomotive.com](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) or 727-955-3550. 


**About STELLA Automotive AI**
[STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) helps dealers with a major pain point which is answering telephones and engaging with customers.  STELLA is trained to deliver exceptional customer experiences through consistent branding, flawless dialogs, and the delivery and collection of essential data.  With STELLA, dealers free up staff to focus on sales and in-dealership service while STELLA handles inbound calls, answers questions, finds and books appointments and takes messages.  With a U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Florida, STELLA is powered by Telepathy Labs, Inc, a world-class AI technology provider.    For more information, visit our [website](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/), like us on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Stella.Automotive), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stella-automotive-ai), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StellaforAuto), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftR0XbhcnkHMCKVt5yZIUw) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/stella.automotive/).   


**For Media Inquiries, contact:**
Jennifer Sanford
Vice President of Marketing
Jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com
(757) 537-7004 (cell)


STELLA Automotive AI has named David Kaffenberger as the Engineering Director of Partner Integrations.

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STELLA™ Automotive AI appoints David Kaffenberger as Engineering Director, Partner Integrations

The 2023 AWAs were filled with exciting products, and BPE is so pleased to be able to recognize STELLA AI for their innovation and commitment to improving our industry.

Brian Pasch awards STELLA the Digital Voice Assistant Award at AWA 2023 in Dallas, Texas.

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Digital Voice Assistant  AWA Award 

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**Tampa, Florida – February 9, 2023** – [STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/), retail automotive’s  fastest-growing and award-winning conversational AI technology provider, is now the recipient of the 2023 AWA Award for Digital Voice Assistant.  

STELLA is answering phones for a wide spectrum of franchise dealer groups, call centers, service desks, and reception.

The AWA Digital Voice Assistant award recognizes STELLA, the premium conversational AI-enabled voice assistant, for its ability to handle all inbound calls for dealerships- regardless of volume.  STELLA ensures a professional customer experience, helps customers quickly get to the right person or department, and schedules customer appointments without any human intervention.  STELLA can answer frequently asked questions, book appointments, transcribe voice mail messages and deliver those same messages via email. STELLA provides customers with a professional experience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at a lower cost than employees or outsourced BDC operations.

“The technology behind STELLA is mind-blowing when you consider all of the ways the software can deal with accents and communication and then also look up the exact vehicles that the customer owns to book the right vehicle with the right op codes,” says Brian Pasch, author and industry leader in automotive marketing strategies, online dealer education, marketing analytics, and digital retailing.

According to Jennifer Sanford, vice president of marketing for STELLA Automotive AI, “The AWA team does their homework. They research the submissions both with dealers and with industry technology experts to ensure that these products offer real and meaningful benefits: improving the consumer experience and creating operational efficiencies. Dealers – and consumers – benefit from their research and findings.”

To learn more about STELLA, dealers can schedule an appointment by calling 727-955-3550 or visiting [www.stellaautomotive.com](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/).

### About STELLA Automotive AI
[STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/) helps dealers with a major pain point which is answering telephones.  STELLA is trained to deliver exceptional customer experiences through consistent branding, flawless dialogs, and the collection of essential data.  With STELLA, dealerships free up staff to focus on sales and in-dealership service while STELLA handles inbound calls, answers questions, finds and books appointments and takes messages. With a U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Florida, STELLA is powered by Telepathy Labs, Inc, a world-class AI technology provider.   For more information, visit our [website](https://www.stellaautomotive.com/), like us on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Stella.Automotive), [LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/company/stella-automotive-ai/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StellaforAuto), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftR0XbhcnkHMCKVt5yZIUw), or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/stella.automotive/). 

### About AWA
The AWAs were created in 2008 to recognize the best vendors in automotive digital marketing, primarily focused on websites. Since then, the AWAs have become a benchmark in the automotive industry for recognizing innovative products, now in 20 categories: digital retailing, marketing automation, sales process, dealer websites, digital marketing, SEO and local search, inventory management and merchandising, HR & training, fixed operations, F&I, website merchandising, conversational commerce, video technology, business intelligence tools, reputation management, and our newest categories, automatic payment platforms, digital voice assistants, enterprise retailing, and CDP/MAP technologies.  Go to [awa.autos](https://awa.autos/) to watch video product reviews and demonstrations in all 20 categories, and hear how these products can solve pain points and make a positive impact on dealer operations.

**For Media Inquiries, contact:**

Jennifer Sanford
Vice President of Marketing
[Jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com](mailto:jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com)



The AWA Digital Voice Assistant award recognizes STELLA, the premium conversational AI-enabled voice assistant, for its ability to handle all inbound calls for dealerships- regardless of volume.  

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STELLA™ Automotive AI wins the 2023 AWA Award in the category of Digital Voice Assistant

Ted Ings hosts the Wild West Panel discussion on conversational AI featuring Josselyn Boudett, Founder and CEO of STELLA Automotive AI, Ed Roberts, COO Bozard Ford Lincoln, Shawn Butler, Fixed Ops Director Umansky Automotive Group and Mike Weldon, Fixed Ops Director at Hansel Automotive Group.

Tune in and learn how STELLA supports your service advisors and BDC teams. STELLA AI is a digital voice assistant that eliminates hold times and answers customer calls with just one ring!

Conversational AI for dealership phone lines. Listen to the Fixed Ops Wild West Panel discussion and learn how STELLA can support your team and customers!

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FIXED OPS Roundtable- Wild West

STELLA Automotive AI Panel with Josselyn Boudett Segment V1.mp4

**Tampa, Florida – January 19, 2023--** STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, has named Stephen Brown as Chief Technology Officer, a newly created role for the company.  

Stephen joins STELLA Automotive, reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer Josselyn Boudett.

“We are thrilled to have Stephen Brown bring his unique expertise leveraging AI in the data-intense dealership environment,” Josselyn said.  “Stephen has worked closely with some of the world’s top manufacturing brands and is uniquely qualified to address the complexity of the automotive market.  His focus on the customer experience consistently yields market-leading AI products.  There is tremendous excitement about this addition to our automotive leadership team.”

“The thing that gets me up in the morning is to see a reasoning engine deliver a perfect answer,” Stephen said.  “I am very optimistic about what can be done in this modern retailing environment, where AI can be properly leveraged to factor in a multitude of rules and interests and arrive at the best and fastest solution for a consumer.”

Stephen previously worked as SVP and Solution Architect at Telepathy Labs, where he worked on large global software projects.  Stephen has led worldwide teams developing enterprise software applications since the early 2000s. 

Stephen holds a Computer Science degree from UCLA and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (Embedded Systems) also from UCLA.

“The reception for STELLA in the automotive market is tremendous.  I love using AI to engage with consumers, and we have such a market-leading product even compared to sophisticated call centers. It is my goal to ensure that STELLA delivers accurate results and meets the expectations and needs of our automotive dealers,” says Stephen Brown.

**About STELLA Automotive AI**
[STELLA Automotive AI](https://www.stellaautomotive.com) helps dealers with a major pain point which is answering telephones and engaging with customers. STELLA is trained to deliver exceptional customer experiences through consistent branding, flawless dialogs, and the delivery and collection of essential data. With STELLA, dealers free up staff to focus on sales and in-dealership service while STELLA handles inbound calls, answers questions, finds and books appointments and takes messages. With a U.S. headquarters in Tampa, Florida, STELLA is powered by Telepathy Labs, Inc, a world-class AI technology provider. For more information, visit our [website](https://www.stellaautomotive.com), like us on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Stella.Automotive), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/stella-automotive-ai/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/StellaforAuto), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftR0XbhcnkHMCKVt5yZIUw), or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/stella.automotive/). 


**For Media Inquiries, contact:**
Jennifer Sanford
Vice President of Marketing
[Jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com](mailto:jennifer.sanford@stellaautomotive.com)





STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, has named Stephen Brown as Chief Technology Officer, a newly created role for the company.  

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STELLA™ Automotive AI appoints Stephen Brown as Chief Technology Officer

“I’m geeking out with Eric Painter & Brandi Counter on this tech from STELLA Automotive AI that stops callers from waiting on hold when they call your dealership!” – Jennier Suzuki, President of eDealer Solutions. 

Listen in to this episode of DealerTalk with Jennifer Suzuki. Meet Eric Painter and Brandi Counter, both highly experienced working in dealerships and with the tools dealers use to lock-in great client experiences, stay efficient, and improve ROI!

Answering phones while trying to manage customers is a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be!  Tune in to learn how STELLA is helping dealerships answer more phone calls, schedule more appointments and increase CSI scores!

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Dealership Advisors Open Up About Advanced Tech Handling Service & Sales Calls

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Can AI improve the Human to Human Customer Experience? 
Listen to the FIXED OPS- Dare to Dream industry experts panel to hear what they have to say. Josselyn Boudett, CEO and Founder, STELLA Automotive AI; Shaun "Kniff" Kniffin, Germain Motor Company; Ed Roberts, Bozard Ford Lincoln and Ted Ings discuss Conversational AI and how it improves the Human to Human customer experience. 


How Conversational AI improves the Human to Human Customer Experience. 


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FIXED OPS Roundtable- Dare to Dream

STELLA Automotive AI Panel Segment V3.mp4

Meet Josselyn Boudett, the Founder and CEO of STELLA. She is an OG of AI and after years of experience with the largest companies developing AI, she custom built AI for car dealerships to solve some of their biggest challenges. Tech is evolving and allowing for efficiencies that save in expenses, assist with consistencies and ensure customers are being served immediately. Is AI right for your dealership? Will it elevate your service and sales experiences, revenue and CSI? 🤔 Listen in and see what you think! The consumer gripes are real and holding or pressing a bunch of buttons is old school now. Integrated with CDK, XTime, Affinitiv, MyKarma, Dealer Socket and Techion…more on the way! Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | Jennifer@edealersolution.com | 800-625-1590 | edealersolutions.com.

Is AI right for your dealership? Will it elevate your service and sales experiences, revenue and CSI?  Listen in and see what you think!

Do Best Service & Sales Experiences Include AI? 

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STELLA in the news

News