John Hammer is president of ADESA, a business unit of KAR Auction Services. In this role, he directs the development and implementation of ADESA’s overall strategy and growth objectives and oversees the company’s North American operations. He assumed this role in February 2018.

Hammer is an automotive industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in a variety of wholesale, retail and financing environments, as well as solid relationships throughout the industry.

Prior to being named president of ADESA, Hammer served as CEO of U.S. Auto Sales, Inc. He had previously spent seven years in senior leadership at Automotive Finance Corporation (AFC), another business unit of KAR Auction Services, as CEO, president and chief operating officer. Before joining AFC, Hammer spent 17 years in roles of increasing responsibility at several automotive and finance companies, including Ally Financial, AutoNation and Mercedes-Benz Financial.

Hammer holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in finance from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee.

As chief operating officer, Srisu Subrahmanyam leads the strategic growth and development of the U.S. auction operations group for ADESA, bringing a process-driven mindset to delivering superior customer service and operational effectiveness.

Subrahmanyam joined KAR in 2017 as senior vice president of business transformation—overseeing business transformation and enterprise optimization, ensuring that KAR is operationally aligned around strategic priorities and that the company’s execution capabilities are effectively deployed across the platform.

Subrahmanyam has more than 20 years of executive operations and consulting experience, including leadership positions across multiple Fortune® 1000 companies and industries such as aviation, technology, logistics and education. Prior to joining KAR, Subrahmanyam served as global vice president of engineering for Ingram Micro, the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor. He previously served as executive vice president and chief operations officer for BrightPoint Americas and in executive leadership positions at Career Education Corporation and United Airlines.

Subrahmanyam holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India. He is a frequent author and lecturer on topics including organizational optimization, design and culture. He is a member of the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis and has served on a variety of other prominent industry and community organizations throughout his career.

Richard Griskie oversees the product development and operations of technology solutions for ADESA, OPENLANE and several subsidiary businesses.

Griskie brings more than 25 years of experience in the automotive technology industry, beginning with management and leadership positions at Accenture. Later he served in executive roles at Reynolds & Reynolds and at JM Family Enterprises, including chief information officer of JMsolutions. Prior to joining ADESA in 2016, he served as vice president of technology operations and process at Dealertrack Technologies. Griskie has a proven track record of leading technology teams to achieve exceptional levels of performance and deliver breakthrough results.

Griskie earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

As chief commercial officer, Paul Lips is responsible for simplifying the ADESA customer experience and coordinating business development efforts with the marketing, sales and client relationship teams across our geographies. He also oversees all sales, marketing, product and pricing activities at ADESA.

Lips has held a variety of management roles since joining ADESA in 1996, including corporate controller for ADESA’s finance department, chief financial officer, vice president of investor relations and planning, and senior vice president of operations. He has also served as executive vice president of operations and finance and as chief operating officer.

Prior to joining ADESA, Lips spent six years with an Indianapolis company, Geo. S. Olive & Co. (now BKD, LLC), managing audits of multiple clients in various industries.

Lips holds a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University. He received his certified public accountant designation in 1993 and is a member of the Indiana Certified Public Accountants Society. Lips is a past president of the National Auto Auction Association.

As executive vice president of online services, Jason Ferreri oversees the strategy, adoption and execution of ADESA’s online initiatives, including ADESA.com, ADESA DealerBlock and ADESA LiveBlock, as well as the OPENLANE private-label online sales platforms. Prior to stepping into this role, he served as senior vice president of commercial sales, overseeing commercial sales accounts throughout the United States, including responsibility for all consignor remarketing programs.

Since joining ADESA in 2004, Ferreri has held various management positions including vice president of sales and executive director of sales for national accounts. He also served as vice president of e-business sales and operations, where he was responsible for all of the company’s internet remarketing initiatives, and as senior vice president of commercial accounts for OPENLANE.

Ferreri has been in the vehicle remarketing industry for more than 15 years. He began his career with Mercedes-Benz Financial (MBF) in Fort Worth, Texas, and held various roles in vehicle remarketing with both MBF and Chrysler Financial. Following these roles, he also held a position as vice president, national auction manager with Chase Auto Finance in Tampa, Florida.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in financial management from Valparaiso University.

Vice President of Commercial Sales

As vice president of commercial sales, John Combs oversees commercial clients throughout the United States. With a diverse skill set of auction operations, including sales and management, he brings both strong leadership and significant insight to the ADESA sales team.

A long-time remarketing professional, Combs has 25 years of industry experience. His remarketing career began in 1991 as the reconditioning manager for ADESA Memphis; he was later promoted to fleet lease manager and arbitration manager. Since then, he has held several management positions such as fleet lease manager and general sales manager for Dealers Auction of Dallas, remarketing manager for Sunstar Acceptance Corp. and national auction remarketing manager for Bank One Credit Company. In 2000 he opened a greenfield site, ABC Indianapolis, as general manager. He returned to ADESA in 2006 to serve in key roles, including executive sales director and general manager of ADESA San Diego, before assuming his current position as vice president of commercial sales.

Combs holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington.

Steve Dudash leads more than 300 dealer sales professionals at ADESA, ensuring that best practices and standardized processes are implemented nationwide to deliver a premium customer experience.

With nearly two decades of automotive experience, Dudash has worked on both the buying and selling sides of the wholesale remarketing industry. He has been with ADESA since 2002; as director of sales, he developed and managed both the ATC Open and Manufacturer’s Closed Auction sales teams and operations. His career began as a buyer and wholesale professional at Flow Automotive Companies.

Dudash has a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University.

As vice president of auction operations, Kurt Madvig is responsible for identifying and leveraging technology solutions to increase the operational efficiency of ADESA auctions across the country. Working closely with the chief operating officer and regional vice presidents, Madvig ensures that his team provides operational support and continuous improvements to auctions while delivering best-in-class service to commercial customers.

Madvig has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, with over 15 years at ADESA. He joined the company in 2001 as general manager of ADESA Long Island, where he coordinated the development of a greenfield location. Shortly after taking that position, he was asked to assume the role of general manager at ADESA San Diego in 2002. Under his leadership, the auction received numerous awards for customer service. In 2006 he joined the corporate office as director of organizational effectiveness, and later took a position as director of auction operational strategy. He was promoted to vice president of auction operations in 2014.

Prior to joining ADESA, Madvig held management roles at auctions in Chicago and Fairfield, New Jersey, for ADT Automotive. He also served as general manager of Pennsylvania Auto Dealers Exchange in York, Pennsylvania.

Madvig is co-chair of the NAAA Auction Standards Committee and a frequent speaker and panelist at industry events. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Minnesota.

Mike Caggiano has served as ADESA’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, East region, since March 2013. In this position, he is responsible for leading the strategic development and primary business operations for the region.

Caggiano’s entry into the remarketing industry came in 1985 with a Massachusetts-based leasing company, where he eventually served as their general sales manager.

Caggiano joined ADESA Boston in 1996 as sales manager, where he was in charge of the auction’s dealer consignment sale. In 2000, he opened ADESA Concord, a greenfield site in Acton, Massachusetts, and served as the auction’s general manager. In 2007, he was promoted to regional vice president of ADESA’s Eastern region.

Caggiano is an active participant in the NAAA Membership Committee. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire.

As vice president of the Central Region, Doug Shore is responsible for leading the strategic development and primary business operations for the region.

Shore has held a number of corporate and auction leadership roles within the company since joining ADESA in 1997 as an assistant controller. He served as controller at ADESA Indianapolis from 1997 to 1998. In 1998, he was named assistant general manager of ADESA Indianapolis.

In 2000, Shore joined ADESA Toronto as general manager. In 2001, he was named director of acquisition and was again promoted in 2002 to vice president of operations. He served as regional business manager of ADESA’s East region and Midwest region before stepping into the role of regional vice president.

Shore holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Butler University in Indianapolis and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is active in NAAA, and also serves on the IARA Standards Committee.

Geoff Parker is vice president of U.S. auction operations for the Midwest region. In this position, he is responsible for leading the strategic development and primary business operations for the region.

Parker brings more than a decade of remarketing experience to his position, having started his ADESA career in 2003 as the national accounts manager for ADESA Dallas. He had previously been regional manager and technician at Dent Demon. He was promoted to fleet lease manager at ADESA Dallas in 2005 and to assistant general manager in 2007. In 2008, he was promoted to general manager at ADESA Cincinnati-Dayton.

Parker holds a bachelor’s degree from Hillsdale College in Michigan.

As vice president of U.S. auction operations for the West region, Lawrence Cubitt is responsible for leading the strategic development and primary business operations for the region.

Cubitt started in the automotive remarketing industry in 1994, as regional remarketing manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. In 1999, he joined the sales team at Flint Auto Auction. After serving in multiple departments and assisting in the launch of the detail/reconditioning shop, he was appointed general manager in 2005. Under his leadership, the auction earned numerous industry awards. Cubitt joined ADESA through the acquisition of Flint Auto Auction, now ADESA Flint, in 2016.

Cubitt received his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota and his MBA from the University of Michigan–Flint.

As vice president of legal, Heather Cameron leads ADESA’s legal team and manages relationships with outside counsel. She partners with ADESA’s senior management team to lead and implement the company’s strategic vision and oversee its legal functions. Cameron also manages customer compliance for ADESA and its parent company, KAR Auction Services.  She works with personnel at all levels to respond to customer audits and to develop and implement policies ensuring compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

Cameron joined ADESA in 2015, bringing more than 18 years of experience advising executive management on strategic and operational matters. She served as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for hhgregg, a large publicly traded retail company based in Indianapolis. While at hhgregg, she managed litigation, developed and implemented policies and served as a key advisor to senior management. Her career also includes time with Ingersoll Rand as assistant general counsel and 10 years as vice president and associate general counsel for Sallie Mae.

Cameron has a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

As vice president of finance for ADESA, Scott Meyer directs all aspects of finance, accounting, budgeting and financial planning and analysis.

Meyer began his career with ADESA in 2003 as assistant controller for ADESA IMPACT. In 2004 he moved to the company’s corporate finance group, and then returned to ADESA in 2006 as controller. Meyer was promoted to vice president of finance in 2013.

Prior to joining ADESA, Meyer worked as an accountant and senior accountant at Deloitte & Touche from 1999 to 2003.

Meyer holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.

In his role as vice president of human resources, Marty Nowlin develops and executes all human resources strategies in support of the overall business plan and direction of the company. His key areas of responsibility include talent management, succession planning and the company’s training and development programs. Nowlin provides leadership to the company’s team of human resources professionals throughout North America.

Nowlin joined ADESA in 2016. He was previously the vice president of human resources at Sears Holdings Corporation in Indianapolis and Chicago. He has held numerous HR leadership positions during his nearly two decades in the field, including vice president of human resources of Manpower Group and of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

Nowlin earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.

In his role as vice president of business development, Ben Murdock manages the operations of all U.S. OPENLANE private-label programs, identifying and executing on new business opportunities.

Murdock has extensive experience in account management, customer service, sales, operations, process improvement, strategy, procurement, and general management in the service, technology, and auto finance industries. His strengths lie in managing customer relationships, building high performing teams, and realizing operational efficiencies through the development and implementation of process improvement strategies.

Murdock joined OPENLANE in 2000 as a dealer sales representative and developed his career in sales management roles, rising to executive director of online services for ADESA. He served as vice president of sales and operations at Primeritus Financial Services before returning to ADESA in 2016 as vice president of business development.

Murdock studied at Arizona State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in business management. He has an MBA in international business from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

As vice president of sales and operations (online services), Summer Ernsberger is responsible for the sales and operations components of the transactional venues of ADESA.com in the U.S.

Ernsberger has nearly two decades of experience in the automotive industry. She has been with ADESA since 2004, starting as a relationship manager and then moving up to program manager for the company’s Toyota Financial Services Dealer Direct account, one of ADESA’s largest online private-label programs. She was promoted to director of e-business, sales, and operations in 2009 and to vice president of online sales and services in 2012. She focused on customer experience strategy for two years while developing and implementing a customer service index at the company’s auctions nationwide. Since 2015, Ernsberger has focused on online services, driving the growth of ADESA LiveBlock and DealerBlock, the upstream open inventory channel.

Ernsberger holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, and an MBA from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

In his role as vice president of process excellence, Anil Nair is charged with enabling the capability, culture, and mindset within the organization to continually identify and reduce waste and variability from processes.

Nair has more than 15 years of progressive leadership and executive experience in operations management, business process improvement, and program management. He is skilled in Lean Six Sigma program development and deployment, new venture implementation, organizational change management and program governance for global operations.

Nair’s past positions have ranged from program manager of business excellence at a printing and business documentation solutions company to plant manager for an engineering construction company, from director of the enterprise continuous improvement group at United Airlines to director of purchasing and process excellence at an education corporation. Most recently he was the executive director of global lean, safety and corporate social responsibility for a wholesale technology distributor and global leader in IT supply chain and mobile device lifecycle services.

Nair holds a bachelor’s of technology degree in mechanical engineering from Calicut University in India, a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and an MBA from the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Tom Caruso is EVP and Chief Client Officer of ADESA.

In this role, Caruso is responsible for establishing and strengthening relationships with customers, working with senior leaders of top clients and commercial accounts.

He previously served as chief executive officer and president of ADESA, where he oversaw the entire auction operations for the United States and Canada. He was also responsible for establishing the company’s direction, as well as leading the development and execution of the organization’s goals and objectives for growth.

Prior to assuming his role as CEO and president of ADESA in 2009, Caruso served in a variety of leadership roles within the company since joining in 1992, including regional vice president of ADESA’s northeast region, executive vice president of eastern operations and chief operating officer.

Caruso is an auto auction industry veteran with nearly 40 years of experience. He is a past board member of the National Vehicle Leasing Association and a past board member of the Massachusetts Independent Auto Dealers Association (MIADA). In 2005-2006, Caruso served as president of the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA), and he later served on the NAAA scholarship committee.

In 2006, Caruso was awarded the MIADA’s highest honor, a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the NAAA Hall of Fame and to the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA) Ring of Honor in 2012. In 2018 he was named Remarketer of the Year at the Conference of Auto Remarketing.

As vice president of major dealer accounts, Scott Drehs is responsible for leading the team that develops relationships with our large-scale buyers and sellers. Scott leverages the capabilities, products and complementary services of all our business units for unparalleled solutions to our dealers’ individual needs through a suite of products and services.

Scott, a 30-year auto industry veteran, also works to generate new business opportunities and ventures to expand new and existing products and services for our major dealer customers. He works closely with other internal departments to successfully launch them.

Scott joined the automotive finance industry in 1989 and has extensive remarketing and finance experience. Prior to working at ADESA, Scott spent 15 years with AFC, including the past two and a half years as division vice president. Before that, he served as AFC’s VP of credit services for 12 years.

Prior to joining AFC, Scott was VP of franchise operations for Carmel, Indiana-based J.D. Byrider for three years and senior VP of operations for American Investment Bank in Indianapolis for six years.

Scott received a bachelor’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.