Adi Bathla is the founder and CEO of Revv, an AI-powered technology platform transforming how collision repair shops approach ADAS calibration.
He recently appeared on an episode of The Collision Vision podcast, powered by Autobody News and hosted by Cole Strandberg, to talk about how Revv's AI solutions are simplifying the process, allowing shops to maximize profitability.
Revv, whose Revv ADAS Plus solution won a 2024 SEMA Show New Product Award in the ADAS Product category. Its Revv ADAS Mechanical solution was also a finalist in the same category.
Bathla said Revv was born when he visited his family’s auto body shop in Houston, TX, where he saw how “pen-and-paper” running the shop could be.
“I saw how archaic and how offline the business process was,” Bathla said. “What the owners and the technicians really wanted to focus on was the car and the customer.”
Bathla said he was “a kid in a candy store,” envisioning how he could use his career experience to positively impact shop operations.
“That was the real genesis of Revv,” he said.
Revv’s mission is to make it easier to run a shop using AI technology to take care of operations and growth, freeing up employees to “focus on what really matters, which is a car and the customer,” Bathla added.
How Revv Applies AI to Collision Repair
Revv collects data input by the technicians using it -- for instance, which OEM repair procedures are being performed and where techs find that information -- to keep its “knowledge graph” continuously updated.
Currently, Revv processes 70,000 repairs a month.
“That is how we use AI to really keep the product the most intelligent and up to date in the industry,” Bathla said.
Shops that use Revv see a big reduction in cycle time, as the product uses AI to speed up repair procedure research that could days or even weeks to complete manually.
Speeding up the process also makes it more likely all repairs will be researched every time, Bahtla pointed out, meaning Revv can catch procedures that may have otherwise been missed.
“Cycle time equals revenue. Cycle time equals the quality of repair that the collision repairer can deliver,” Bathla said.
Revv has evolved to also be “an end-to-end business management solution as well,” he said. “The way you quote, the way you manage your workforce, the way technicians manage their day to day or, in the future, how the technicians get paid or how the shop gets paid as well, will all be centered through Revv.”
Bathla said Revv recently conducted a user study. He said respondents reported the product integrates with their shop’s entire tech stack, including their estimating platform; provides a complete picture of necessary safety procedures; and digitizes management workflows.
“It just reduces all the anxiety that comes with managing everything, ADAS, safety and all the use cases around it, so folks can actually focus on the meat of the matter,” Bathla said.
Strandberg pointed out Revv announced in November it raised $20 million in additional funding to continue rolling out its product.
Bathla said the money will allow Revv to double down on its engineering, product and design segment.
“What that means is really building the default solution for collision body calibration specialists,” Bathla said. “Really, whoever touches the car after it's been sold.”
The funding will also be used to increase marketing.
“We want to reach everybody who needs the help, wherever they are, whatever size of business they are,” Bathla said. “We want to reach them and we want to help them out with our technology solutions.”
Revv wants to be the “connectivity tissue” between all existing hardware and software systems a shop may be using.
“How do you collaborate with other businesses like your sublet providers? How do you schedule, how does your workflow go about with this?” Bathla said. “All that stuff is going to be done in Revv, and Revv is going to facilitate the connectivity. That is the ultimate goal, and that's where our technology is headed.”
The Future of ADAS Calibration in Collision Repair
“It is getting bigger by the day, by the minute,” Bathla said, adding there were 4.3 million calibration opportunities in 2024 alone, resulting in about $1.3 billion in potential revenue.
As companies like Revv develop more software solutions to address the growing need for ADAS calibrations, safety has to be the focus.
“There's too much liability at stake to miss calibrations or do them incorrectly,” Bathla said.
For example, if a camera that’s part of a lane assist system is off by a millimeter, it could lead to a fatal accident.
“It weighs really heavily in my brain, and that pushes us to educate the industry, highlight this more and more…to make sure our roads are safer, for all,” Bathla said.
Components used to power ADAS features are only getting more advanced. Some, like surround-view camera systems, require very specific conditions to recalibrate. Bathla said that leads him to believe specialization will prevail “over the next five to 10 years, as the driver gets more and more detached from the vehicle.”
Revv has built a community where shop operators -- whether or not they use Revv -- can come together and discuss which ADAS calibration solutions are right for their business, or if they should perform them in-house or sublet.
“The community we have built is purely for education purposes, is purely to help the industry,” Bathla said. “We encourage everybody to be a part of it and have productive, healthy discussions, because all of us are navigating this net new together.”
In-House vs. Subletting ADAS Calibration
Shop operators considering subletting should reach out to other nearby shops about their experiences with local providers, then speak to the providers themselves.
Those who want to bring ADAS services in-house need to first look at the kind of vehicles they are predominately working on, to figure out which calibrations they are not performing.
Operators then need to consider their staff’s expertise.
Finally, they should purchase a tool, whether aftermarket or OEM, to start performing those calibrations.
“I think once you are through that hump, that is when things get easier,” Bathla said. “You just have to get through that first bit of understanding, of these three elements.”
Proper technician training is key, whether it’s provided by an OEM as part of the certification process, or an organization like I-CAR. It also needs to be continuous.
“Things are only getting more and more complicated, so constant reading and constantly educating yourself is very important,” Bathla said.
Abby Andrews