Investing in Salient

Consumer lending is a huge and complex market — almost 80% of U.S. households have some form of debt. Yet, much of the loan servicing industry still runs on outdated, manual processes. 

Borrowers who need to modify their due dates, make a payment, or update information often face long hold times or struggle with clunky IVR systems. On the lender side, huge teams of human servicers spend time on repetitive, low-value tasks. This represents a real cost burden for lenders — and when servicing is done poorly (as is often the case with outsourced, offshore teams), it can have a negative impact on recovery rates and even expose lenders to regulatory fines. 

AI is changing this. As we wrote in “Input Coffee, Output Code,” AI is transforming capital into labor, automating work that previously required human effort and making businesses more efficient at scale. Some of the earliest and most impactful implementations we’ve seen are for businesses with massive customer support volume, traditionally handled by high-cost human phone labor — especially in industries with significant compliance considerations. Lending is a perfect example of this, which is why we’re thrilled to lead the Series A in Salient. 

Salient is an AI-first workflow automation platform for lenders. The company builds AI agents to handle borrower interactions across voice, text, email, and chat. By automating routine workflows like payment collection, payoff processing, and insurance updates, Salient enables lenders to improve their customer experience while substantially reducing servicing costs.

Salient’s agents aren’t just comparable to human agents, they’ve outperformed them for many customers. AI agents can structure calls more efficiently (for example, to collect ACH information), place every call at the optimal time, and handle callers in any language. The platform also automatically monitors both AI and human agents for potential Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) violations. 

Since launching in 2023, Salient has processed over $1 billion in transactions, helping lenders cut handle times by 60%. The company is already working with major lenders like Westlake Financial, ACA, Exeter Finance, CPS, and three publicly listed banks. 

We’re excited to partner with cofounders Ari Malik and Mukund Tibrewala, who bring a unique mix of finance and AI expertise. Ari previously worked in Tesla’s sales finance division, while Mukund built software at Dropbox and Airtable. They’ve been friends since high school and teamed up to start Salient after Ari saw servicing costs balloon during his time at Tesla. 

We’re proud to be working with Ari, Mukund, and the whole Salient team as they build an AI-native operating system for loan servicing.