From Copilots to Agents: How One Company Rebuilt Everything Around AI
Most companies are still experimenting with AI copilots. One company went much further—rebuilding their entire operation around autonomous agents.
The Before Picture
Kavak, a used car marketplace operating across Latin America, started like most companies. They introduced AI copilot tools to help their teams work faster.
The problem? Nobody really used them.
Copilots sat alongside existing workflows, requiring humans to stay in the loop. Adoption remained low. The promised productivity gains never materialized.
Then they made a radical shift.
The Transformation
Instead of helping humans do their jobs faster, Kavak rebuilt their company around AI agents that handle work autonomously.
Today, these agents manage approximately 90-95% of all customer interactions. The human team focuses on edge cases and oversight rather than day-to-day operations.
Why It Worked
Several factors made this transformation possible:
Operational complexity created the need. Kavak operates in a challenging environment—Latin America where fraud is high, financing is scarce, and payment rails are weak. They vertically integrated e-commerce, reconditioning, warranty, financing, and logistics into a single consumer product. This complexity made automation valuable.
Building proper foundations took time. Before agents could handle most interactions, Kavak had to invest heavily in ontologies, data pipelines, and safety mechanisms. They accepted nearly a year of flat growth while restructuring their entire operation.
Safety brakes mattered. Deploying autonomous agents at scale requires robust safeguards. Kavak built multiple layers of human oversight and emergency stop mechanisms to prevent problems.
The Real Cost
This transformation wasn't free. The company essentially paused normal growth for a year to rebuild their systems around AI.
For most companies, the question isn't whether to adopt agents—it's whether you're willing to make the organizational changes required. Simply adding copilots to existing workflows rarely moves the needle.
What This Means for You
The path from copilot to agent isn't just a technology shift. It requires:
- Accepting that AI will handle most interactions, not just assist humans
- Investing in infrastructure before seeing returns
- Restructuring teams around autonomous operations rather than human workflows
Companies that make this shift gain significant competitive advantages. Those that stick with copilots may find themselves increasingly outmatched.
The future belongs to companies willing to rebuild around AI, not just add it on top.
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