SmartTO Client Impact Stories highlight how Ontario-based innovators are advancing smart mobility and related sectors with support from SmartTO, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) ecosystem, as well as our valued partners at Centennial College and YSpace. Each story showcases the venture’s journey, key challenges, measurable progress, including Technology Readiness Level (TRL) growth and the role SmartTO and its partners played in accelerating their path to commercialization.
About iNAGO
Founded in Toronto, iNAGO is a pioneer in conversational AI, building intelligent assistants that make vehicles, fleets, and industrial products smarter, safer, and more user-friendly.
At the heart of iNAGO’s work is its netpeople® platform, which allows automakers, fleets, and manufacturers to deploy branded intelligent assistants with deep product knowledge, generative AI with accuracy, and no-code tools for rapid customization and control.
The company was founded by Ron DiCarlantonio, who has spent his career at the intersection of human–machine interaction and mobility innovation. After building one of the first global digital pet products in Japan, Ron launched iNAGO with a vision reminiscent of Knight Rider: intelligent assistants seamlessly embedded in vehicles and everyday products. Under his leadership, iNAGO has raised financing internationally, built global partnerships, and continues to anchor its R&D in Ontario.
One of iNAGO’s earliest research milestones was the BRAIN project, a five-year Ontario-sponsored project funded through the Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program, which supports cutting-edge research collaborations between universities and industry. This work laid the foundation for iNAGO’s ability to automatically create intelligent assistants with expert knowledge and highly accurate natural language understanding which became the springboard for subsequent R&D projects, including the company’s recent work on evaluation frameworks.
SmartTO Programs Engaged
Applied Technical Project (ATP)
The Challenge
Automotive customers were eager to explore AI-powered in-vehicle assistants but faced a major barrier: how to evaluate conversational AI systems objectively and fairly. Unlike traditional software, generative AI provides different answers to the same question and can convincingly hallucinate, making it difficult to measure accuracy, reliability, or compliance. Without a standard evaluation framework, global automakers and manufacturers hesitated to adopt these technologies.
For iNAGO, the challenge was to create a scalable, unbiased evaluation system that could validate assistants for automotive use and beyond.
SmartTO Support
SmartTO played a pivotal role in enabling iNAGO to address this challenge. Following an introduction at an OVIN forum, SmartTO identified the alignment between iNAGO’s needs and York University’s expertise. SmartTO provided the funding and project management structure necessary to launch an Applied Technical Project (ATP) with Professor Aijun An at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering.
This support allowed Prof. An and her students to carry out the research that led to the creation of a new evaluation framework for conversational assistants. The work culminated in the paper A Scalable and Interpretable Evaluation Framework for RAG-Based Car Assistant Systems, accepted for oral presentation at EMNLP 2025’s Industry Track, an event focused on real-world natural language processing (NLP) applications.
By providing targeted funding, streamlined administration, and ongoing project management, SmartTO made it possible for iNAGO to advance from TRL 1 to TRL 4–5, developing a prototype framework that is now being integrated into the netpeople® platform and positioned to evolve into a standalone evaluation service for the automotive sector and beyond.
“SmartTO didn’t just fund our project, they managed it, connected us with York’s Lassonde researchers, and gave us the structure to succeed. That support helped us move from an idea to a validated prototype, a leap we could never have made alone.”
Ron DiCarlantonio, Founder, iNAGO
Key Support Areas
Evaluation Framework Development
SmartTO connected iNAGO with York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering, funding an Applied Technical Project that led to a scalable evaluation framework for conversational assistants, addressing a critical barrier to automotive adoption.
Research & Academic Collaboration
Professor Aijun An and her team at York University worked closely with iNAGO, contributing expertise in AI evaluation methods. This collaboration also involved hiring a York University master’s graduate through the OVIN TalentEdge program, strengthening iNAGO’s technical capacity.
Funding & Project Management
Through SmartTO, iNAGO gained essential funding, streamlined administration, and active project oversight. This enabled the project to launch quickly, stay on schedule, and produce results that were both academically rigorous and commercially relevant.
Ecosystem Connections
Through OVIN’s TalentEdge program, the company hired a York University master’s graduate who worked directly on the project, boosting its technical capacity. iNAGO also contributed its netpeople® platform to version 1 of Project Arrow, Ontario’s flagship zero-emission vehicle initiative, collaborating with Ontario Tech University and Windsor partners. In addition, the company has engaged with Windsor-Essex RTDS and Communitech, expanding its reach and readiness across the province.
Looking Ahead
With the evaluation framework validated and accepted to EMNLP 2025, iNAGO is integrating the methodology into its netpeople® platform and preparing to launch it as a new evaluation service within the next six months. This will not only strengthen iNAGO’s core automotive offering but also open a potential new revenue stream by helping other companies validate their own assistants.
Looking forward, iNAGO is advancing discussions with global automotive makers and fleet operators, while expanding its conversational AI solutions into advanced manufacturing—where complex equipment demands intelligent, intuitive interfaces. By continuing to leverage partnerships with York University, Ontario’s RTDS network, and global industry leaders, iNAGO is well positioned to deliver on its founding vision: making intelligent assistants as trusted and indispensable as the vehicles and machines they serve.