About | CarLabs

CarLabs Team

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Martin Schmitt

Co-Founder, CEO

A car nut since childhood and a tech geek since adulthood, Martin is the founder and CEO of NewCars.com. After its acquisition by Cars.com, Martin continued on as VP of R&D. Martin was also the VP of Engineering at Shopzilla, where he led a team to build the Internet’s largest shopping comparison engine. Martin is also the co-founder of Kay Angel, a Haitian orphanage for HIV positive children.

Signature Scent: Motor oil + homemade grape juice
Secret Skill: Changing your manifold gasket

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Isabel Sopoglian

COO, Chief Operating Officer

Isabel is the rational, level-headed force that keeps CarLabs together. She naturally provides the structure and discipline that this group of goofball brainiacs require to stay on course. Prior to CarLabs, Isabel was the VP of Search Marketing for Cars.com and a core member of NewCars.com. Isabel is also the founder of Project Visable which helps fight hunger among LA’s homeless children.

Happy Place: In the garden
Secret Skill: Speaks 4 Languages

John Ruble

CRO, Chief Revenue Officer

John started his automotive career in Detroit, MI selling cars and eventually working his way up to General Manager of several dealerships. For the past 25 years John has been on the vendor side partnering with dealers in a variety of areas and for the past eight years specifically working in Artificial Intelligence. John's passion is removing the status quo of vendor/client and truly turning each "client" into a partner, where solving the Dealer's problems is the core of the relationship. John and his family actively participate in NBRAN, a rescue for Brittany Spaniels fostering and finding their forever homes.

Signature Scent: Jet Fuel A
Secret Skill: Can jump out of a perfectly good airplane

Chris Scott

Regional Director

Chris brings a ton of energy and passion to the CarLabs team. After working with A.I for the past 5 years, there is no place he'd rather be. His love of numbers and analytics help drive the success of his customers. He looks forward to helping dealerships across the United States succeed at the highest level.

Happy Place: Poolside with the family

Monty Wanless

Regional Director

Monty comes to CarLabs with prior automotive and AI experience. Having spent the last 8 years in the industry, his prior relationships in automotive will help the continued growth at CarLabs. He is adept at cultivating relationships with his customers to create long-term partnerships for CarLabs.

Happy Place: Baseball Field w/ his son
Personal Kryptonite Coffee

Advisory and Board Members

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Tom McAlear

Advisory Board Member, Angel Investor

Tom is the former COO of Daimler -Chrysler Services and retired in 2002 after over 27 years in the industry. He held executive management positions in Sales, Service, Marketing, Insurance and Financial Services. Since his retirement Tom has been a consultant to Fortune 500 companies as well as small business owners. He has been an owner of a multi-franchised car dealership and currently is Chairman and part owner of several supplier companies.

Happy Place: Playing/laughing with grandkids
Secret Superpower: World's best wife

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Mitch Golub

Chairman of the Board, Angel Investor

As the President and Founder of Cars.com, Mitch transformed the company into the leading online automotive destination with $600m in revenue. Previous to Cars, Mitch spent 21 years at the Tribune Co, where he led the the company’s new business initiatives, including the creation and management of 9 start ups in digital, print and broadcast. Mitch is currently the president of MFG Digital where is he is an investor and board member with a focus on digital start ups.

Signature Scent: Blueberries
Secret Skill: Saugatuck, MI

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Kevin Keegan

Vice Chairman, Angel Investor

Kevin comes to CarLabs with a wealth of experience in the insurance and automotive industries and has been at the forefront of driving change. He is adept at listening to every team member with a respect and accessibility to help us grow as a team. Kevin’s executive experience includes being President at both InsWeb and Marshall & Swift and Senior VP at JD Power and he is currently the US Ambassador for the International Insurance Society. Kevin also knows anyone you’ve ever wanted to meet.

Signature Scent: Learning from customers
Personal Kryptonite: Being mistaken for the English football star

Jeff Katz

Board Member

Recent investor and CarLabs board member Jeff Katz started and/or invested in eight businesses before joining the CarLabs team. A lifetime entrepreneur, he co-founded Mercury Payment Systems with his brother, aligning with Point of Sale (POS) Developers and Resellers. MPS sold for $1.65 billion in 2015. Most of Mr. Katz’s investments are in fast-growing technology companies which add value to the omnichannel commerce ecosystem, and he holds a growing portfolio of related entities. In 2013, Mr. Katz was individually recognized by the RSPA, (the Point-of-Sale industry’s trade association), by being inducted into their Hall of Fame.

Ryan McManus

Advisory Board Member

Ryan McManus is SVP of Partnerships and Development for EVRYTHNG and President of EVRYTHNG Inc, an IoT Smart Products platform company; and also serves on the Board of Directors for Nortech Systems. He has over 20 years’ experience as a leader in both digital business start-ups and large corporate digital transformations. He previously founded Accenture’s Digital Business Strategy and Transformation practice and served as the Accenture Strategy COO and a leader in the firm’s Corporate Strategy, M&A and International Expansion businesses. He is the author of several articles on digital business and corporate strategy, serves on two advisory boards with the Aspen Institute and has served as an adviser to Fortune 100 companies, technology startups and non-profits.

Laurent Cunin

Chief eXperience Officer, Angel Investor and Advisory Board Member

An incurable petrolhead and a “serial car buyer” combined with a 25+ year career in Investment Banking all around the world, Laurent is bringing to CarLabs his intellectual curiosity, attention to detail and his creative mind. His mission is to help CarLabs rapidly expand as The World-Class Leader, in both B-to-B and B-to-C products. Based on the East Coast, the world is his oyster and his jet lag and time difference management are second to none.

Not-so-secret place: A racetrack, driving one of his fast cars
Dream Car: The one my favorite car manufacturer will not sell me... yet!

Contact Us

(310) 455-2400

CarLabs.ai
Los Angeles, CA 90027

A Diverse Team Led By Industry Icons And Emerging Visionaries