Interview: Nikhil Naikal, CEO and Co-Founder of Kinetic

Kinetic CEO details benefits of recently announced partnership with Chilton Auto Body, the technology company’s approach to the digital repair process and plans for growth.

Following the May 6th announcement of Kinetic’s partnership with Chilton Auto Body to open a new digital repair hub in San Carlos, California, CollisionWeek sat down with Nikhil Naikal, CEO and Co-founder of Kinetic, to discuss the significance of this collaboration and what it means for the collision repair industry.

In an exclusive video interview embedded below, Naikal provided deeper insights into why this partnership represents a milestone for the company’s expansion into Northern California and how it exemplifies their approach to transforming vehicle repair through advanced technology.

“This is the first time in our company history where we have perfect alignment with the MSO, which is Chilton’s, their private equity owners and the insurance companies in the region,” Naikal explained during the interview. “We see this as a fantastic example or a benchmark, on top of which we can build a repeatable model.”

The partnership with Chilton Auto Body, which operates 20 locations across Northern California, represents more than just geographic expansion for Kinetic. According to Naikal, it’s about finding the right operational fit that embraces technological advancement.

“We like to look for groups like Chilton, high quality collision operators who are technologically savvy. They want to bring technology into their repair process. They’re not afraid of it, but they’re running towards it,” Naikal noted. “And those are the types of groups that we love working with because they are early adopters.”

Naikal also explained Kinetic’s approach to training technicians to work with their advanced systems, which incorporate AI, computer vision, and robotics. Naikal emphasized that their training program goes beyond standard industry practices.

“We’re not only training technicians on standard industry practices, but are also training them on how to operate advanced machinery like robots, how to work with our software,” said Naikal. The company implements strict learning management guidelines and requires months of training and apprenticeship before technicians can work independently.

Interestingly, Kinetic’s approach to recruitment reflects the changing nature of the collision repair industry around repairs of digital technologies.

“We recently hired someone who used to work at a Sprint store,” Naikal explained. “These are young people who tend to be technologically savvy, who have a high amount of intellectual curiosity.”

When discussing the technological advantages Kinetic brings to the partnership, Naikal explained how AI bridges the gap between the “unstructured world” of collision repair and the structured processes needed for automation.

“To be able to identify what’s happened to the car to come up with a good estimate of what digital systems on a car have been impacted… you need AI to bridge the gaps,” Naikal explained.

The 10,000-square-foot San Carlos facility, which has already received AAA certification, represents Kinetic’s commitment to bringing digital repair capabilities to the Bay Area market.

Naikal emphasized the critical importance of properly repairing modern vehicles’ digital systems that cannot be seen, unlike damaged body panels. “The number one most important thing is making sure that the car is fully repaired.”