**TAMPA, FLORIDA – June 12, 2023** -- STELLA Automotive AI, the leading provider of high-end conversational AI technology in the automotive industry, is delighted to announce the appointment of Rich Sands as the new Chief Executive Officer of STELLA Automotive AI. With over 25 years of product and business leadership within the global automotive industry, Rich brings a wealth of experience from executive roles at Ford, J.D. Power, and Microsoft. 

"STELLA delivers breakthrough AI technology to the automotive retail industry, driving quantifiable improvements to dealership operations and customer satisfaction," says Rich Sands, the newly appointed CEO. "I'm honored and excited to lead this talented team as we define the AI space and deliver game-changing technology specifically engineered for our industry.”

Josselyn Boudett, Founder and Chairman of STELLA, expresses confidence in Rich's capabilities, stating "STELLA is in a hyper growth cycle, and Rich is the ideal person to lead our team. His big data expertise and experience with dealership operations are perfectly aligned to drive the STELLA roadmap. We are confident Rich will drive the AI narrative for STELLA and bring even more world-class conversational AI products to the market."

With a strong background in the automotive sector, Rich Sands founded True North Enterprises and served on the boards of Urban Science, Pursuit Alert, and Autometrics. He is also a Strategic Advisor to The Presidio Group, a prominent independent merchant banking firm in the automotive retail and consumer mobility sectors. Rich holds a Masters of Business Administration from Florida Metropolitan University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Central Michigan University.

Mike Maroone, CEO of Maroone USA and investor in STELLA Automotive AI applauds this leadership decision, recognizing Rich’s deep automotive and technology skills.  Mike says, "Rich is the right leader for STELLA. His knowledge and proven experience will drive innovative AI solutions that strengthen customer satisfaction and deliver measurable operating results for automotive retailers.” 

Geoffrey Pohanka, Chairman of the Pohanka Automotive Group and investor in STELLA Automotive AI notes, “STELLA offers an automotive AI engine that is transforming the automotive retail marketplace. Rich Sands brings the necessary expertise to guide the STELLA team and ensure that the technology continues to enhance the interaction between consumers and dealerships.”

**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)



Breaking news! Appointment of Rich Sands as the new Chief Executive Officer of STELLA Automotive AI.

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STELLA™ Automotive AI Announces Rich Sands as Chief Executive Officer

**Tampa, Florida – May 17, 2023--** STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI
technology, has announced three new hires to the Sales department.

- Heather Hathaway joined the Sales team as the Rocky Mountain Region’s Territory Sales
Director. She has a passion for helping dealers create win-win operational efficiencies
that turn customers not only into repeat customers, but also into fans. Prior to joining
STELLA, Heather held both sales and marketing positions in the automotive, media and
tech industries.

- Charlie Crispino joined the Sales team as a Territory Sales Director for the Upper
Midwest Region. An accomplished sales leader, Charlie’s commitment to dealership
operational success reflects his passion for the automotive industry. Prior to joining
STELLA, Charlie worked both inside and outside dealerships, most recently in the DMS
side of the business.

- Sean Gibson joined the Sales team as the Territory Sales Director for Texas. With over 25
years of experience both inside and outside dealerships, Sean is always working to
improve dealerships’ digital processes for better business performance and ROI. Prior to
joining STELLA, Sean worked closely with major accounts across the nation with
Cars.com.

“Each of these teammates bring experience and professionalism to our customer-facing
organization. We know that our dealers are in good hands with these leaders. I am delighted to
welcome them to Team STELLA,” says Eric Painter, National Director of Sales and Customer
Success 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 is a speech-enabled AI solution designed specifically for the automotive industry. STELLA allows dealerships to deliver an exceptional telephony experience for their customers using conversational AI technology to provide service and front desk receptionist capabilities. STELLA was born out of Telepathy Labs, a pioneer in speech-enabled AI helping Fortune 500 companies around the world create exceptional customer experiences; STELLA is the only solution in the market with exclusive rights to Telepathy Labs technology, which enables STELLA to be smoother, quicker, more effective and less expensive than any alternative. 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/77059331/admin/), [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 continues to expand. Announcing three new hires to the national sales department. 

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STELLA™ Automotive AI Continues to Expand National Sales Team

**Tampa, Florida – May 9, 2023--** STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, has announced the hiring of industry veteran, Gary Fields, to the Enterprise Sales Team.  

Gary Fields joined the Sales team as an Enterprise Account Director.  Reporting to Ron Smith, Director for Enterprise Sales,  Gary has developed specific expertise in Digital Retailing and Digital Service solutions. Prior to joining STELLA, Gary worked with Reynolds and Reynolds, Cox Automotive and Tekion. 
 
“Gary brings tremendous expertise to our team. His knowledge of the dealership technology needs and platforms is unparalleled. He brings value and ideas not only to the Enterprise team but also to our sister departments. We are looking forward to the growth he will help deliver at STELLA,” says Ron Smith, Director of Enterprise Sales 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 is a speech-enabled AI solution designed specifically for the automotive industry. STELLA allows dealerships to deliver an exceptional telephony experience for their customers using conversational AI technology to provide service and front desk receptionist capabilities. STELLA was born out of Telepathy Labs, a pioneer in speech-enabled AI helping Fortune 500 companies around the world create exceptional customer experiences; STELLA is the only solution in the market with exclusive rights to Telepathy Labs technology, which enables STELLA to be smoother, quicker, more effective and less expensive than any alternative. 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/77059331/admin/), [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)




Gary Fields joined the Sales team as an Enterprise Account Director.  Reporting to Ron Smith, Director for Enterprise Sales,  Gary has developed specific expertise in Digital Retailing and Digital Service solutions. 

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STELLA™ Automotive AI Expands Enterprise Sales Team

In this episode of Facts Not Feelings, Brooke Furniss sits down with Ben Okuka, Head of Product at Stella Automotive AI, to learn how conversational AI is transforming the way dealerships interact with customers. Discover the differences between IVR (interactive voice response) and DVA (Digital Voice Assistant), the pros and cons of having a DVA, the most frequently asked question by STELLA’s clients, and much more.

If you want to improve your dealership's customer service and reduce hold times, tune in now to learn how conversational AI can revolutionize your business!

In this episode of Facts Not Feelings, Brooke Furniss sits down with Ben Okuka, Head of Product at Stella Automotive AI, to learn how conversational AI is transforming the way dealerships interact with customers.

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How Conversational AI Is Revolutionizing the Automotive Industry

How Conversational AI is Revolutionizing the Automotive Industry_ Insights from Stella Automotive's Head of Product

Awards Recognize Top Technology Impact in Automotive

**Tampa, Florida – April 27, 2023** -- STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, announced that it has been honored as an emerging company in automotive innovation by Cherokee Media Group. Ben Okuka, STELLA’s head of product, was on hand at the Auto Intel Summit in North Carolina to receive the award.

“It is an honor and a privilege to accept this award on behalf of the product and technology teams at STELLA. The scientists and engineers who built – and still build – this product understand both the technology and the business applications of it. We are delighted to be recognized for our contribution to this industry,” said Ben Okuka, Head of Product.   

Founded in 2018, the Emerging 8 awards recognize companies pushing the boundaries of innovation within the automotive industry. STELLA was featured in the April edition of the Auto Fin Journal and received an award during the Emerging 8 luncheon at the 2023 Auto Intel Summit in Raleigh, N.C. STELLA was recommended to Cherokee Media Group as a pioneer of automotive technology development. After being vetted, STELLA was chosen, along with seven other industry recipients, for this honor. The chosen honorees have all demonstrated their ability to improve a specific aspect of the automotive industry through their technology.

“Many thanks to the team at Cherokee Media Group for investing the research time to understand our product and its value to car dealerships and their customers. We are grateful for the welcome our product has received from dealers across the industry,” said Jennifer Sanford, Vice President of Marketing.

STELLA uses world-class conversational technology to help dealers engage with customers.  The platform is capable of complete conversations that result in work completed; and, most importantly, the platform helps customers get fast service on simple tasks such as booking appointments. STELLA is the most award-winning and innovative conversational solution in automotive. The company launched in 2022 and is experiencing rapid growth working directly with dealers as well as serving as source technology for industry partners striving to achieve more modern AI solutions.

**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 that it has been honored as an emerging company in automotive innovation by Cherokee Media Group. Ben Okuka, STELLA’s head of product, was on hand at the Auto Intel Summit in North Carolina to receive the award.

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STELLA™ Selected as 2023 Emerging 8 Company

**Tampa, Florida – April 17, 2023**-- STELLA Automotive AI, provider of high-end conversational AI technology, announced an adapter integration with Orbee, a leading provider of customer experience middleware for automotive dealerships. Together, STELLA and Orbee have developed the world’s first-ever Context Aware Receptionist for automotive dealerships.

The integration of the STELLA conversational AI platform and the Orbee data-rich Customer Data Platform (CDP) provides STELLA with customer history and buying signals necessary for her to completely tailor each call experience based on each unique caller. With Orbee, STELLA is now able to identify callers, their customer history, and their recent marketing engagements as soon as a call is answered. The customer receives a completely tailored experience designed to save them time while also recognizing their unique relationship with the dealership. Dealerships can turn over their inbound calls to STELLA with complete confidence that callers will be greeted by name and with an understanding of their relationship with the dealer and their needs.  

Josselyn Boudett, Founder and CEO of STELLA Automotive AI, says “With this integration, STELLA becomes the smartest receptionist in automotive. She will understand the customer’s buying history and marketing interests and be able to utilize that immediately over the phone, providing a uniquely personalized experience for each caller.”

Co-Founder and CEO of Orbee, Atul Patel, says “This is a ground-breaking accomplishment that demonstrates the possibilities with a CDP and other centralized databases with modernized APIs. These two technologies enable dealerships to truly deliver world-class customer experiences. STELLA will recognize customers and treat them with the care they deserve on each call.”

For more information about how the STELLA and Orbee’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 or visit [www.orbee.com/integrations/stellaautomotive](https://www.orbee.com/integrations/stellaautomotive). 

**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/). 

**About Orbee**
Orbee provides analytics, data, and automation middleware solutions to the automotive industry. Franchise and independent dealers and large dealership groups utilize the Orbee’s platform to measure marketing investments with campaign analytics, understand shopper behaviors with its customer journeys, manage and control their first and third-party data with tag management, reach buyers everywhere with omnichannel marketing, leverage 1:1 engagement with personalized messaging, comply with safeguard data laws with regulatory compliance and enable their tech teams with powerful APIs and SDKs.  The company partners with dealer-centric media agencies, service providers, and OEM programs to expand the reach of its powerful technologies. To learn more about Orbee’s powerful marketing technology, please visit orbee.com and follow Orbee on LinkedIn. Connect with Orbee in person by visiting us at upcoming events.

**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 an adapter integration with Orbee, a leading provider of customer experience middleware for automotive dealerships. Together, STELLA and Orbee have developed the world’s first-ever Context Aware Receptionist for automotive dealerships.

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STELLA™ and Orbee deliver the world’s first Context Aware Sales Receptionist

Brian Pasch, Founder of PCG Companies and Josselyn Boudett, CEO of STELLA Automotive discuss the advances of using AI to answer calls, on the first ring, in your dealership 24 hours a day! With natural voice processing, consumers can speak as they normally would to a live person and get a better customer experience, higher data capture, and more upselling revenue. Listen to this podcast and learn what new features STELLA has added and what is coming this year.

Brian Pasch, Founder of PCG Companies and Josselyn Boudett, CEO of STELLA Automotive discuss the advances of using AI to answer calls, on the first ring, in your dealership 24 hours a day! 

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AI Comes to Age in Automotive Retail

AI Comes to Age in Automotive Retail.mp4

**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.

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[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.

STELLA in the news

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