Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital has acquired a majority stake in Conversica after leading a major recapitalization of the company, which is an artificial intelligence platform for auto retail.

Conversica’s management team has retained a “significant ownership position” and will continue to lead the business.

In addition to the recapitalization, Conversica announced Monday that it has launched Ignite, an AI-native revenue activation engine for auto retailers.

The company built this platform “to make context-driven revenue activation possible, end the perceived trade-off between trust and profit, and make the most trusted dealership the one best positioned to win,” the company said in a release.

“Ignite unifies scattered customer, vehicle, sales, service, and conversation data into a single context layer, then surfaces the revenue opportunities hidden inside it: from owners nearing equity or lease milestones to declined service, lost service retention, overlooked F&I opportunities, and customers most likely to buy again,” Conversica said in the release.

The recapitalization can help the company scale Ignite across dealer group, expand the intelligence and increase the potential channels for revenue activation opportunities, the company said.

“Automotive retail is at an inflection point, and we believe the dealerships that can activate their customer data across the full lifecycle will be best positioned to grow,” said Nick Nocito, who is managing director at Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.

“Conversica has built the intelligence layer to make that possible, helping dealers turn fragmented data into trusted customer experiences and measurable revenue opportunities across the enterprise,” Nocito said.

Conversica CEO Mike Gilson added, “Customers increasingly expect speed, transparency, and control across every buying and ownership interaction.

“Dealers already have the relationships, service history, local presence, and customer data to deliver that experience in a more trusted and personal way. The problem is that too much of that context is locked inside disconnected systems,” Gilson said.

“Ignite puts that context to work, helping dealers compete on trust, activate more revenue from the relationships they already have, and prove that doing right by the customer is also the most profitable way to run the business.”