Devin Daly, CEO and Co-Founder of Impel, recently joined the Ignite & Scale podcast to share the story of Impel’s journey from a bold startup idea to becoming automotive retail’s first AI unicorn.
What began in 2014 as a venture into 360° product visualizations for fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Warby Parker quickly evolved when Devin and his team spotted a far greater opportunity: transforming automotive retail. The industry’s complexity was ripe for disruption: dealers operating on razor-thin 2–4% margins, customers navigating 30–40 disconnected vendors across the purchase journey, and fragmented communication across sales and service.
That disruption became Impel’s Automotive AI Operating System. Acting as the unified “brain” across the dealership ecosystem, Impel AI connects siloed systems, streamlines customer engagement, and turns friction into seamless, profitable experiences. To date, Impel has powered over 39 billion shopper interactions, influenced $9 billion in dealer revenue, and serves more than 8,000 customers across 51 countries.
Impel’s AI Operating System acts as the unified brain across the automotive retail ecosystem, streamlining communications, connecting disparate systems, and turning friction into seamless experiences. Devin breaks down how culture, agility, and world-class talent fueled their scale to unicorn status, and where the future is heading: always-on concierge AI agents, predictive vehicle acquisition, and AI that guides the entire consumer lifecycle from research through repurchase. AI isn’t replacing people. It’s augmenting dealerships to boost profitability while elevating the customer experience.
“We see automotive retail moving from human-capital intensive to AI-enabled, with one cohesive AI brain managing the entire customer journey,” Devin explains. “It’s a unique win-win-win for consumers, dealers, and OEMs.”
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or read more on the Cambria Private Capital Blog.