Carvana transforms automotive customer experience with AI-powered automation

Carvana, a leading online automotive retailer, sought to deliver an exceptional and seamless car buying and selling experience. By leveraging Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and related services, Carvana implemented both an AI agent, Sebastian, and the proprietary Conversation Analysis Review Engine (CARE). These systems work together to analyze 100% of customer interactions at scale, enabling in-depth quality monitoring and actionable insights. The solution utilized Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for scalable infrastructure, GitHub Copilot to accelerate development, Azure AI Speech for transcription, and Azure Cosmos DB for high availability and flexibility in data storage. Tight integration with the Microsoft Azure ecosystem facilitated quick development iterations and simplified management across services. With CARE, Carvana stopped relying on random sampling and achieved full visibility into customer conversations, quickly identifying areas for training and service improvement. Security and compliance were prioritized through Azure’s capabilities, meeting the demands of handling sensitive customer information securely and reliably. The AI-powered review of conversations has improved the effectiveness of both Sebastian (the AI agent) and human Customer Advocates, allowing the latter to focus on complex issues while the AI handles routine ones. This resulted in enhanced efficiency, reduced inbound calls per sale, and more consistent, high-quality customer service. Through this partnership with Microsoft, Carvana is now pioneering the use of multi-agent AI and continually embracing new Azure AI Foundry agent services to further innovate and drive operational excellence in automotive retail.