CCC's Creators & Innovators blog series features members of our team discussing what excites them most about the work they're doing and how they're contributing to CCC's growth and success. This month, we're featuring a Q&A with CCC's Product Manager, Hai Bo Ma on the future of vehicle diagnostics.

How long have you been with CCC and what were you doing before you joined the company?

I’ve been with CCC for six amazing years. Prior to that, I was with Cisco Systems, Salesforce, and an EdTech startup. It was a mix of building v1 product and creating customer value for growth products.

What are you currently working on, and what excites you about it?

For the past six years, I had a blast building up our AI-first estimating products, insurer and repairer scheduling product, and the OEM repair procedures product, to name a few. During this time, I also incubated and built the industry leading vehicle diagnostics platform, which has become my primary focus for the past year. I’m mostly excited about the opportunity to move the industry forward by connecting the key market participants and bringing in transparency, efficiency, and consistency to a critical repair process. After reaching product-market fit, the exponential growth we have experienced has been truly rewarding.

How do you think the collision repair industry will change in the next 5 years?

I think there are five main trends impacting the collision repair industry:

• Staffing shortages: Concurrent to baby boomers retiring, I have also observed more transfers and turnovers. Additionally, I foresee growing demand for new types of technicians.
• Supply chain disruptions: as the repair volume continues to return to pre-pandemic level, parts availability is still lagging.
• Vehicle complexity: new car complexity such as the inclusion of expanded ADAS features, many of which are coming standard. This would only compound as more vehicles with L2 and L3 autonomy get introduced.
• Consumerization: As consumers, we have experienced and come to expect increasingly digital experience, and collision repair industry is no exception.
• Electric Vehicles: the higher adoption of EVs requires new set of tools and skillsets for proper repairs.

What kind of role will technology play in the future of diagnostics?

I think the future of diagnostics is more informative, intelligent, and connected. With the increased safety, comfort, and autonomy in vehicles, we’re already seeing how diagnostics are helping collision repairers to better understand the damage scenarios and vehicle condition, assisting them in repair planning. When we marry up discrete datasets, we gain the capability to better predict required repair steps earlier in the process. As we bring together the many industry participants, such as repairers, insurers, OEMs, and service providers, together we better our ability to seamlessly deliver efficient and cost-effective repairs for the vehicle owners.

What is your favorite part about the culture at CCC?

Definitely customer obsession. Every CCC’er is focused on delivering values to the wide-ranging customers we serve. We always start with the customer and work backwards, asking probing questions to understand the whys. Our focus on driving innovation is another one of the things I love about working for CCC. We developed the habit of challenging the status quo, pushing for what is just now possible, and delivering solutions that turn complexity into simplicity. And my final favorite thing is a hallmark at CCC – our ability to collaborate closely with one another to produce great results. When you assemble teams of passionate and intelligent individuals, provide them with meaningful problems to solve, and give teams the autonomy and ownership, you get the industry changing innovations we talked about before.