Todd Tracy is a Board-Certified trial lawyer in Dallas, Texas, who specializes in vehicle crashworthiness cases. He has tried 189 cases against GM, Ford, FCA, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Kia, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Kenworth, TRW, Takata, Key Safety/Breed, and Dorel Juvenile Group.

Mr. Tracy has worked on vehicle defect cases in 42 states. He has written 170 articles and is a frequent lecturer around the country. He has testified before Congress on various ways to make vehicles safer. Mr. Tracy has recovered over 2 billion dollars for his clients.

So, how on earth can a trial lawyer that sues vehicle manufacturers, vehicle component part suppliers and child restraint companies offer any benefit to the vehicle repair industry? In a landmark case that Mr. Tracy tried, a jury agreed with him that a repair facility must use OEM repair guidelines and OEM approved parts rather than LKQ parts. But that’s not what this talk is about. Instead, Mr. Tracy will walk through the top 10 crashworthiness defect trends that his firm is handling. He will show you crash and sled tests that his firm has conducted at CALSPAN and Wichita State University so that each attendee can see how the vehicles they repair perform when in laboratory conditions and how safer designs can be the difference between life and death. Most importantly, he will teach you ways that will save your life or the life of a loved one.

In this breakout session, collision center owners and managers will hear from Kelsey on how to use online digital marketing to attract more local customers in today’s changing market. He’ll cover where shops should be advertising digitally, what types of campaigns actually perform best, and how much time and internal involvement effective marketing really requires. Attendees will also learn what to look for—and what to ask—if they choose to hire a marketing company, including how to evaluate service levels and track real ROI, giving them a clear path beyond costly or outdated advertising options.

This session discusses how to deploy state of the art visual AI damage detection for body shop lead generation.  An overview of how to integrate AI into the online experience and the latest in drive through body scanning technology 

Jimmy is the Head of Automotive and Property for Tractable, which develops artificial intelligence for accident and disaster recovery. Growing exponentially across 14 countries, the solution has processed more that $3B in auto accidents and accelerated recovery for over a million households, equipping 31+ of the top 100 global insurers.

Prior to Tractable, he led the USAA Auto Experience and the USAA Global Auto Physical Damage operations and strategy. Before that, he led the Strategic Initiatives team at Farmers Insurance and served on staff at Nationwide Insurance.

Jimmy currently serves as Chair of the Future Disruptions Committee for the Collision Industry Conference, and Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Committee for CIECA, and served 7 years as an Advisory Board Member for Towing and Storage for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Member of the Board of Trustees for the Collision Repair Education Foundation, and as a Mentor for the military veterans served by the Disabled American Veterans Patriot Boot Camp.

Jimmy served 13 years in the US Army- a combat veteran of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He was the Distinguished Military Graduate of the JFK School of Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, NC, Graduate of the US Armor Officers School at Ft. Knox, KY, and Graduate of the Infantry School, at Ft. Benning, GA.

This session explores how AI-driven technologies are transforming the end-to-end claims journey in today’s collision repair shops, from vehicle intake to repair estimating and even carbon emissions tracking. Drawing on more than 30 years of industry experience across body shops and leading insurance carriers, Bill Brower shares real-world insights and proven success stories showing how AI-powered inspection and estimating tools are reducing shop’s cycle times from days to minutes, enhancing customer experience, and driving stronger business performance.

Bill Brower, a distinguished professional in the insurance industry, has an extensive career spanning over three decades, during which he has consistently demonstrated his commitment to driving excellence in the claims, repair, vehicle and fleet business sectors. Awarded Insurance Luminary by P&C360 for consecutive years, Bill focuses on enhancing the touchless claims process and advancing Sustainable Estimatics to drive carbon neutrality across the automotive ecosystem, serving insurers, repairers, manufacturers, auto dealers, and fleet operators.

His career includes leadership roles at prominent organizations such as Nationwide Insurance, Liberty Mutual Insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and his current position at Solera. Bill’s profound expertise has established him as a highly respected figure in the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry. 

Before joining Solera, Bill played a pivotal role as the Vice President and Head of U.S. Auto Claims Strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, contributing significantly to the development of cutting-edge data solutions for claim automation.  His tenure at Liberty Mutual showcased his versatility, with key positions including Head of Auto Physical Damage Claims and Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. Notably, in 2011, Bill collaborated with Solera to pioneer the industry’s first photo estimating app, a groundbreaking initiative that laid the foundation for today’s innovative Qapter® AI solution. During his 18-year tenure at Nationwide Insurance Company, Bill held progressively advancing leadership roles, contributing to the company’s success and growth.  

Brandon Eckenrode, Executive Director of the Collision Repair Education Foundation, will be leading a panel conversation with industry members and a Dallas area collision program instructor and student on the importance of connecting with your local high school and post-secondary collision programs. As local collision programs are the industry’s ideal source of entry-level talent to address an aging workforce, attendees will hear specific examples on what has worked for others when working with their local programs and feedback from the instructor/student panelists where they have seen active industry members having the biggest impact on their program and students technical education.”