TradeRev Unveils ‘H’ — Artificial Intelligence to Enhance the Digital Auction Experience

New Suite of Machine Learning and Imaging Capabilities Further Empowers Dealers

TradeRev, a digital platform that facilitates live, dealer-to-dealer vehicle auctions, announced they will unveil H, the company’s newest suite of artificial intelligence capabilities at next week’s National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) Show 2018 in Las Vegas. TradeRev is a business unit of global remarketing and technology solutions provider KAR Auction Services, Inc. (NYSE:KAR). H leverages data and technology from across the KAR platform and uses TradeRev’s machine learning and proprietary algorithms to deliver clear, easy, actionable intelligence to dealers. At NADA, TradeRev will demo H’s AI-driven automated condition report visualization tool and several recently released data and predictive analytics capabilities.

“There’s a lot of artificial intelligence out there, but we created H to be hyper-focused ‘auction intelligence’ for dealers,” said Mark Endras, co-founder of TradeRev and KAR chief innovation officer. “H’s machine learning instantaneously analyzes real-time mobile device camera video frames and systematically classifies them into standard condition report image categories. In other words, dealers can now get a complete set of images in just seconds with increased accuracy, clarity and reliability of the resulting vehicle condition report.”

H’s automated visualization tool was developed internally by TradeRev’s machine learning and data science team. Over the past several months, H was fed condition report data and thousands of images from across KAR’s portfolio of whole car, salvage and online auction marketplaces and ancillary services providers.

“H isn’t some plug-and-play add-on; it’s an organic capability we developed over several years with meaningful input and testing from our dealer customers,” said Endras.

The unveiling of H follows the North American release of TradeRev 4.0, a suite of data analytic and machine learning capabilities that streamline and simplify the auction experience for dealers. TradeRev 4.0 introduced several industry-first capabilities including scheduled events for sellers, data-driven buyer vehicle recommendations, and bid assist price predictability.

“TradeRev continues to push the boundaries of cloud computing to deliver a better, faster, smarter auction experience for dealers,” said Becca Polak, president of TradeRev and chief legal officer for KAR. “And we’re already teaching H new capabilities, including how to auto-detect vehicle damage and even predict the severity and potential economic impact of that damage from vehicle images alone.”

The name H for TradeRev’s suite of AI capabilities was inspired by Grace Hopper, a computer programming pioneer and rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. Hopper led the team credited with creating the first compiler for computer languages, a precursor for the Common Business Oriented Language, or COBOL. She was also a recipient of the National Medal of Technology in 1991.

“In a world of trendy tech-names, we wanted our AI to have meaning for our customers and our employees,” said Polak. “Grace Hopper was a true trailblazer and remains an inspiration for women in computing everywhere. Her drive and innovative spirit are characteristics shared and celebrated by all TradeRev employees.”