Shazam-for-Cars To Dealer AI: The Pivot - Andrew Kabrit

What happens when your AI chatbot accidentally tries to buy a car for $0?In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Kabrit, co-founder of Seez.co , the startup once known as the “Shazam for Cars.”From scraping car data to building an AI platform used by major dealerships across Europe and the Middle East, Andrew shares how a single pivot turned Seez from a consumer app into a thriving B2B automotive SaaS company.Subscribe to my newsletter https://www.mahmoudkhodor.comAndrew's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-kabritSeez's website https://seez.coWe dive deep into:🚗 How Seez built early AI models before ChatGPT existed💡 The “bot that bought a car for zero”, and what it taught the team📈 Pivoting from millions of users to a few key enterprise clients🏠 Building a startup from a bare Dubai penthouse with no AC or furniture🤖 Creating Caesar, the AI sales assistant transforming car dealerships💥 The mindset that helped Seez get acquired and scale globallyIf you’re into startup stories, AI, product pivots, or building in the Middle East, this one’s for you.🕒 Chapters / Timeline00:00 – Intro: From Shazam for Cars to Dealer AI01:00 – The $0 car offer: When AI went rogue03:00 – Building Seez in a Dubai penthouse with no AC05:00 – Early days of AI: scraping data & training image models08:00 – Launching the “Shazam for Cars” app11:00 – The B2C challenge: millions of users, no revenue13:00 – The pandemic pivot: from app to dealership SaaS16:00 – Selling cars online before Tesla made it cool20:00 – Understanding dealer pain points24:00 – Why scrappiness beats perfection26:00 – Finding your first B2B customers30:00 – How to sell to enterprise clients33:00 – The power of GTEX and first major deals37:00 – Convincing the team and investors to pivot40:00 – Building the Caesar AI assistant45:00 – Differentiating in the AI chatbot market49:00 – Domain expertise and deep dealership integrations53:00 – What’s next after Seez’s acquisition by Pinewood56:00 – Andrew’s biggest lessons for founders58:00 – Closing thoughts and where to find Andrew