Most car recommendation sites have a simple business model: a brand or a dealer pays, and the recommendation moves. KAR ruled that out on day one. Nobody can pay to appear in a KAR brief, and nobody can pay to move up in one.

That constraint is the product. It is also, plainly, a commercial problem. An independent research service has to find revenue somewhere other than the obvious place, and it has to do that while staying useful to the driver who never pays anything at all.

Elisavet Latsiou joins KAR AI as a founding member to work on exactly that.

What she takes on

Elisavet leads strategy and business development. In practice that covers how KAR is positioned in the market, which drivers we are actually building for, and how those audiences map to realistic revenue streams. It means turning "independent car research" into a business model concrete enough to run: what we charge for, who pays, and why they keep paying.

It also covers the commercial side of the project. Partnerships, sponsorships and B2B collaborations. Mapping the partners, vendors and sponsors worth approaching, and then approaching them. Building the presentations and pitch decks those conversations need — for commercial partners and for investors.

And it covers the website, at the level of positioning, user journey and conversion. A driver who lands on KAR should understand within seconds what it does and why the answer can be trusted. If they don't, that is a strategy problem before it is a design one.

The part that keeps the rest honest

The last item on her list is KPIs, and it is not filler. A young project can mistake activity for progress for a surprisingly long time. Defining what we measure — and being willing to look at those numbers when they are unflattering — is what turns a growing project into a company.

Where KAR is right now

KAR has matched 150+ drivers across 250+ chats and covers 40+ brands. Greece's leading automotive magazine, GOCAR.gr, put the project on its front page. We are expanding into the United States. And we are still pre-incorporated, which means everyone building this is doing it because they believe the idea is worth building, not because a salary arrived.

That is the context Elisavet is joining. Outside KAR she is the founder of BRAINSHOT, working on inclusive cultural and fashion projects, youth engagement, sustainability and EU programmes, including ATHENSHOT. It is a background in building things that need an audience, a purpose and a way to fund themselves at the same time — which is a fair description of the job here.

What's next

A clearer picture of who KAR serves. A business model we can defend. The first commercial partnerships that don't compromise independence. And numbers we actually track.

Welcome, Elisavet!

Want to see how it works? Run a free brief — about two minutes of questions, no dealer contact, no card required.