Episode summary
Melisa Tokmak, founder and CEO of Netic, describes building AI agents and workflow software for “essential services” businesses such as HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, automotive, hospitality and pet services. She says Netic sits between enterprises and their customers, handling intake across voice, text and web, and routing work according to operational constraints such as technician specialisms, urgency and customer value.
Tokmak argues that many operators in these sectors are not technologically backward, and says some move rapidly when the return is clear, citing a deal she says was closed in 14 days for “like a half a million” dollars. She also claims that more than 70% of Netic’s customers are now “Netic-first”, with the first customer interaction handled by Netic’s AI agents.
On competition with frontier model providers, she contends that labs focus on general capabilities while companies like Netic must build domain-specific orchestration, product and operational “last mile” layers. Tokmak also discusses why she chose to build a software platform rather than pursue an AI-enabled services roll-up strategy.
The conversation touches on private equity adoption: Tokmak says the playbook is shifting towards creating tangible operational value, and claims Netic has generated “over $600 million” in customer revenue from AI-handled interactions, while emphasising live deployments over demos. She also outlines hiring for “agency” and long-term follow-through, and expresses optimism about AI’s potential in education.
