Kelley Blue Book stepped up its commitment to a high-tech future in late January when it hired CIO Justin Yaros, the former CIO of Sony Pictures Entertainment (“Screen Savers,” CIO Insight October 2003). Yaros reports to company president Paul Johnson and serves on the firm’s Executive Leadership Team. Unlike other companies he has worked for, Yaros says, “what attracted me to Kelley Blue Book is that the technology is being taken so seriously. It’s great to be in a position to really move this company forward.”
In addition to used- and new-car evaluations for consumers, KBB works with roughly 15,000 dealerships nationwide, providing new vehicle sales leads and tools to manage inventory and price used cars. Yaros will focus on upgrading those tools and overhauling the consumer Web site, www.kbb.com, adding more research tools, he says. He also plans to streamline the company’s many databases.