Innovative strategy and the continuous pursuit of operations excellence

David founded The Burnie Group in 2011 to help organizations dramatically improve their operations. It has since become one of the fastest-growing management consulting firms in Canada. Prior to founding The Burnie Group David spent eight years at McKinsey & Company where he was a leader in McKinsey’s North American Operations and Retail practices. He also served as Director of Marketing and Sales at Grocery Gateway.com and was an Account Executive at Proctor & Gamble.

David’s experience includes: Corporate strategy, lean process redesign, performance management, post-merger integration, workforce management and leading transformational change. David has worked extensively in banking, insurance, telecommunications and retail in areas including back office, contact centre, branch/store operations and shared services.

David received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the London Business School, where he graduated with distinction, and earned his Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University with Dean’s List honours. David is a supporter of the Fort York Food Bank, and an avid athlete. He was an All Canadian and Academic All Canadian while playing football for the National Championship winning Western Mustangs, and was later drafted by the CFL's Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Hugh has over 20 years of experience working in technology, management consulting and analytics roles, always with a focus on improving customer operations and marketing. He has a lengthy track record of developing successful business strategies.

Prior to joining The Burnie Group, Hugh founded his own practice, Client Lens Group. He has run customer analytics and database marketing departments at Nielsen and Telus, worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, and has led applications, infrastructure and Project Management departments at EDS.

Hugh's experience includes: Management consulting, marketing, building customer loyalty, automation, analytics and performance management, and technology strategy.

Hugh earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the London Business School, where he focused on Private Equity and Venture Capital Finance and Strategy. He also holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) designation. Hugh is a devoted husband and proud father of two boys. He enjoys hockey, soccer, the violin, and has a variety of personal technology interests including web and mobile application development.

Doug is a blockchain, AI and strategy expert who has been working in the IT industry for over 25 years. With roles ranging from technical engineering, enterprise sales, standards definition and administration, consultancy and worldwide strategy, Doug has defined his career as a leader, mentor, and advisor who excels in fostering E and C suite relationships and helping individuals and organizations succeed in a world of accelerated change.

Doug is the co-founder of CueContext, a member of the Board of Directors at MaRS Innovation and a former executive at IBM.

Douglas’ experience includes: Developing strategy solutions, optimizing client operations and technology, and driving innovation and change.

Douglas earned his Masters in International Economic and Social Administration at Universite Pierre Mendes and his Bachelor degree in Political Studies from Queen’s University. Outside of work Douglas is an avid traveler who enjoys reading, camping, and playing guitar. Douglas is also an advocate for green building tech, and volunteers regularly to help the homeless and at-risk youth.

Alexey is a strategy and operations expert, with unique, hands-on experience building and running online businesses. He's been consulting for over 10 years, helping clients to develop target operating models, re-design their processes and inform their strategies through benchmarking and performance management.

Alexey is the CEO and Co-Founder of InsurEye and CondoEssentials.com. He spent 5+ years as Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group and worked as Internal Consultant for Process and Project Management for Daimler Chrysler.

Alexey's experience includes: Developing business and operations strategies, re-designing processes across different industries, identifying and driving efficiencies, creating performance management solutions for Operations space, creating and executing benchmarks (Contact Centres, Multi-Channel), developing B2B and B2C online monetization models, assessing and evaluating global megatrends.

Alexey received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Collège des Ingénieurs, where he focused on 'Strategy and Management of Technology,' and earned his Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich. Alexey speaks five languages and spends his time away from work travelling, playing table tennis and braving the slopes Alpine skiing.

Alexey is a frequent contributor to numerous media outlets such as National Post, Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail as well as multiple online publications. His topics focus on Financial Services, Insurance and Personal Finance.

Graeme is a results-driven, highly adaptable and strategic senior executive with a strong track record over 20 years of delivering growth, solving complex challenges, and driving customer satisfaction. He has defined his diverse career as a collaborative leader across multiple industries, roles, and companies. His background includes a unique mix of omnichannel retail, media, management consulting, and B2B sales. He served as General Manager at DoorDash Technologies, and as an executive at Rogers Media, Sears Canada and HBC.

Graeme’s experience includes: Strategy, digital innovation, customer experience, performance marketing, supply chain, operations, and profit and loss (P&L) management.

Graeme earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, where he graduated on the Dean’s List as a Bregman Scholar. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Management from McGill University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (P. Eng) in Ontario.

Outside of work Graeme loves spending time with family. He enjoys skiing in the winter and cottaging in the summer. He is also very passionate about music and is the bass player in Toronto cover band Big Racket.

Eli is a strategic, customer service and sales leader with 25 years of management and consulting experience across various channels. Eli has worked with global clients from various industries to optimize customer operations, generate revenue opportunities and build a differentiated customer experience.

Prior to his appointment as a Practice Leader, Eli was an independent customer service consultant. During this time Eli consulted for The Burnie Group as a Strategy & Contact Centre Expert.  Prior to embarking on his consulting career, Eli worked in several strategic leadership positions, including Senior Consultant at Desjardins, Director of Customer Care at OfficeMax Grand & Toy and Site Director at Whirlpool Corporation.

Eli’s experience includes: Delivering multichannel customer experiences via the phone, live chat, automated self-serve and social media. He also has deep expertise in the deployment and management of contact centres, including insourcing, outsourcing as well as start-up and consolidation.

Eli earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Concordia University. Outside of work, Eli enjoys practicing martial arts, world travel, and staying fashion forward.