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
Moventum Fleet Management Names Mark Iorillo Head of Sales
Iorillo brings nearly 20 years of fleet management and sales experience to the role, including previous positions at Element Fleet Management, CEI, Donlen and Ryder.
Read More →
Fleet Has a Talent Pipeline Problem. What Comes Next? | AF News Recap
Where will fleet’s next generation of leaders come from? This week, we’re looking at the industry’s talent pipeline, what certification can add to a fleet career, how to build an award-worthy track record, and the return of Automotive Fleet’s Personal Use Survey.
Read More →
Smith System Launches Driver Risk Management Program
Fleets have more driver data than ever, but identifying risky behavior doesn't necessarily correct it. Smith System's new Driver Risk Management program combines monitoring, training, and follow-up coaching to help fleets connect risk signals with driver intervention.
Read More →
Automotive Fleet Opens 2026 Personal Use Survey for Commercial Fleet Managers
Less than two weeks left! Commercial and corporate fleet managers are invited to share how their organizations handle company vehicle personal-use policies, charges, and driver eligibility.
Read More →
From AI Prompts to AI-Generated Safety Songs | AF News Recap
Can better prompts make AI more useful for fleet managers? This week, we’re breaking down smarter fleet analysis, an AI-assisted experiment that turned safety training into music, and what happened to fuel prices in August.
Read More →
How to Write Better AI Prompts for Fleet Analysis
Include these six elements in your fleet prompts to generate more relevant analysis and accurate answers.
Read More →
Fleet Meets: Eric Kilgore
This edition of the Fleet Meets series features one of the industry's best leaders driving multi-market and national operations.
Read More →
Why Reactive Fleet Management Is Becoming Too Expensive to Sustain
Research highlights a growing need for proactive management strategies to address rising costs in fleet operations effectively.
Read More →
What Your Fleet KPIs Aren’t Telling You
Tracking fleet metrics is only useful when the data leads to better decisions. This guide helps fleet leaders assess cost, utilization, and downtime more accurately, identify performance gaps, and prioritize the actions that can improve operational results.
Read More →
Hidden in Plain Sight: Fleet Compliance Risks
Fleet compliance isn't just about having policies — it's about consistently enforcing them. This practical guide reveals six hidden compliance risks common in public sector and shared fleet operations and outlines proven strategies to improve visibility, accountability, and audit readiness
Read More →