Ari Polakof is Co-Founder and CEO of Flai, a Y Combinator-backed (S25) AI communications platform purpose-built for automotive dealerships, automating inbound and outbound customer interactions 24/7.

Ari earned a BS in Computer Science and Statistics from UC Santa Barbara, studied Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, and completed a Master's in Computer Science at Georgia Tech, before spending 3 years as an ML and Software Engineer at AppFolio.

The idea for Flai sparked when Ari personally waited 30 minutes on hold to book a car service appointment, recognizing that unanswered calls were costing dealerships significant revenue.

Prior to Flai, Ari served as a Founding Engineer at HappyRobot (YC S23), the leading voice AI platform for logistics, which reached a $500 million valuation within two years.

Flai has raised $33M in total funding, including a $27M Series A led by Base10 Partners with Toyota Ventures and Y Combinator, and has already managed tens of thousands of dealership calls, generating millions in additional revenue for clients.