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.
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."
Originally posted on Automotive Fleet

The 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing convened with a mandate to involve a new constituency — fleet managers — and an updated mission to demonstrate unrealized value in de-fleeted vehicles.
Read More →
From a Wall Street analyst's take on remarketing's key players to whether fleets need their own version of Carfax, CAR 2026's afternoon roundtables will answer key operational and industry questions.
Read More →
Work trucks lose value at remarketing, not because they aren't worth more, but because the data to prove it rarely makes it to the auction.
Read More →
The enhanced technology allows rental car operations, dealerships, and auctions to compare a vehicle’s condition at pickup and drop-off within the same rental or loaner record.
Read More →
A panel at the 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing will examine how resale value is created across the vehicle lifecycle and which traditional remarketing practices still deliver ROI.
Read More →
Smart operational and spec'ing decisions can dramatically improve both the total cost of ownership during use and the resale value when it's time to remarket day cabs.
Read More →
Smart remarketing begins before vehicles enter the fleet, and is built on strong data and stronger FMC partnerships.
Read More →
Winter snowstorms and frosty freeze-overs could not slow down the hot vehicle auction action nationwide in January.
Read More →
How can vehicle-sourced performance data change the way fleets assess condition, time de-fleets, and set remarketing expectations? A seminar at the 2026 Conference of Automotive Remarketing (CAR) has answers.
Read More →
B2X Awards is one of Bobit's newest initiatives dedicated to increasing engagement across the company's sites.
Read More →