Black Book Hires CTO, SVP
Black Book has announced the hire of Laird Popkin as its chief technology officer and senior vice president.
Black Book has hired Laird Popkin as its chief technology officer and senior vice president, the company has announced.
Popkin steps into a newly created role and reports to Tom Cross, Black Book's president. The appointment is effective March 23.
Popkin will be responsible for all product development and IT operations for the entire group, which includes National Auto Research, Veretech Holdings, Inc., and Canadian Black Book.
Popkin joins Black Book from Kaplan, Inc., where he was chief enterprise architect. He has more than 25 years of executive and technology management experience at leading companies and has held CTO positions at Pando Networks, Warner Music Group, 3Path, Sotheby's Holdings, and News Corp's Internet Services.
"Laird is the ideal choice to help drive Black Book's IT and product initiatives as we continue to leverage technology capabilities and innovations and create breakthrough products and services for the automotive industry," said Cross. "Laird's technical expertise, passion for technology, and operational excellence will help us in our commitment to continually enhance our market-leading products to meet the needs of our customers."
More Operations
Your Local Dealer Knows More Than You Think
Your local dealer can provide an information advantage that extends well beyond courtesy deliveries.
Read More →
Fleet Meets: Austin Schutte
Here are some industry insights, personal touches, and words of advice from the CEO and Founder of Anew Solutions.
Read More →
Soap Box Derby Challenge: What’s Powering Team Brown
The car is coming together, the students are solving real build problems, and the fleet industry is helping push Team Brown toward the starting line.
Read More →
Commercial Fleet Sales Contribute To June, YTD Gains
The fleet sector has boosted its vehicle purchases at a reliable pace in the first half of this year compared with 1H 2025.
Read More →
What Fleet Managers Really Want From Vendors
From customer service frustrations and technology breakdowns to RFQs, change management, and the growing impact of turnover across the industry, this conversation pulls back the curtain on the real operational challenges fleet managers are navigating every day.
Read More →
Fleet Safety Masterclass: Industry Leaders on Storytelling, Strategy & Innovation
In this special masterclass episode, industry leaders break down what it really takes to build safer fleets in today’s increasingly distracted and data-driven world.
Read More →
Integrating Legacy Fleet Systems and Historical Data
In this episode, we bring together fleet and technology leaders to unpack the realities of data integration, system migrations, and the evolving role of AI in fleet management.
Read More →
From Resistance to Results: Change Management Strategies for Fleets
From new technologies and safety programs to evolving regulations, fleets are under constant pressure to adapt. But as Dr. Betz explains, success isn’t about the system you implement—it’s about whether your people actually use it.
Read More →
Where We're Headed: A Practical Look at AI in Fleet
Discover how AI is actually being deployed in fleets, not just marketed, including practical use cases and emerging risks.
Read More →