No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

Building an Autonomous Enterprise for Real-World Services with Netic Founder Melisa Tokmak

34 min

Melisa Tokmak, founder and CEO of Netic, discusses how her company builds AI agents for essential real-world services like HVAC, plumbing, pet care, and roofing. She explains that Netic autonomously handles customer interactions (voice, text, web) for large enterprises, matching complex operational needs to optimize customer delight and revenue, while allowing companies to focus on their core labor. She also shares her philosophy on building a mission-driven company, the importance of agency in hiring, and her contrarian take that robotics in services is far in the future.

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✨ Key Takeaways

1

Netic is building an 'autonomous enterprise' for essential services—handling inbound/outbound customer interactions, scheduling, and operational reasoning so companies can focus on delivering the actual service (e.g., HVAC repair) rather than managing support teams.
2

Melisa argues that the perception of these industries as 'slow to adopt tech' is wrong; companies are very value-focused and tech-forward, often closing large contracts (e.g., $500k) in just 14 days if the ROI is tangible.
3

She contrasts her approach with AI rollups: rather than buying and running a few companies, Netic builds a platform that any real-world business can use, compounding knowledge across industries (e.g., roofing data + pet care cross-sell for private equity portfolios).
4

Melisa emphasizes that 'agency' is the key hiring trait—she looks for people who have consistently shown ownership of their lives and projects over long periods, not just quick successes.
5

She is most excited about AI's positive impact on education and healthcare—giving people who lacked resources access to world-class learning and personalized help, countering the negative narrative around AI's job displacement.

💬 Notable Quotes

"Every single thing that you need to run your life or that you want to do are a good example... Netic exists between the company and its customers."
"It's a big misconception to think about these industries as old school... some of the most tech forward, business-focused owners I have met have been in these industries."
"If robotics is going to do what we're doing with these companies today, every single of those buildings needs to be either 3D printed or completely standardized. I don't see that happening."