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meet our senior management team

Mike Amos
Founder, President and CEO

Mike is involved in corporate strategy, product strategy, market development and client development. Mike has been actively involved in the implementation of over 100 CEM systems; creating a uniquely deep understanding of retail customer experience management. With over 15 years in the retail sector Mike has gained an extensive background in retail and customer experience management in various staff and operational roles at Dun & Bradstreet, PepsiCo/KFC, Loblaw Companies and Brookfield Properties.

Mike is a graduate in Commerce from the University of Toronto.

Gary Edwards, PhD
Client Services, Executive VP

Gary is responsible for oversight of client management, marketing science and retail insights. Gary is involved in solving business challenges with research and technology solutions. He has served a key leadership role during program development, implementation, and follow-up with clients in the retail industry for the past four years at Empathica. For over 15 years Gary has led worldwide and domestic research projects in customer and employee research.

Gary’s prior experience includes serving as a Senior Vice President at Maritz: Thompson Lightstone and an account executive in the then newly formed Financial Services Research Group. Prior to Maritz, Gary served as the General Manager of Gallup Canada after starting as a Research Associate. Gary’s research career began as an epidemiologist for the Culture, Community and Health Studies division of the Clarke Institute.

Gary has a PhD specializing in Social Research Methods from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Gary Topiol
Managing Director, United Kingdom

Gary is responsible for Empathica's operations in the United Kingdom. With more than 15 years experience in the market research and customer experience fields, Gary brings a wealth of insight and expertise to his role. Prior to joining Empathica in 2007, Gary served as the International Development Director at GfK NOP Ltd., the fifth largest market research firm in the world, and Chief Operations Officer at NOP World Mystery Shopping. Throughout his career, Gary has worked extensively with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies to develop, execute and hone their customer experience strategies.

Prior to joining Empathica, Gary completed a full time MBA at Cranfield School of Management.

Nick Vaney
Chief Financial Officer

Nick is responsible for oversight of the finance, accounting and human resources functions at Empathica. Nick’s prior experience includes the role of VP, Operations and Chief Strategy Officer, and the role of Chief Financial Officer, at Nightingale Informatix Corporation, a public SaaS-based company in the electronic medical record (EMR) industry. Prior to that, Mr. Vaney’s career included a role as Senior Associate, Private Equity at VRG Capital, a division of The Vimy Ridge Group Ltd., where he was involved in the due diligence, investment and review of several private and public companies. In addition, Mr. Vaney spent several years at Accenture Ltd., where he left as an executive within their Strategy and Business Architecture practice.

 

Mr. Vaney has an Economics degree from the University of Western Ontario, as well as HBA and MBA degrees from the Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario. He also holds his Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation.

 

Steve DeBacco
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Business Development

Steve DeBacco is responsible for expanding the global reach of Empathica by executing the Worldwide Sales Strategy, further developing Empathica’s strategic alliance relationships and continuing to forge the high level relationships with Channel partners.  Steve brings exceptional leadership, strategic selling expertise and industry knowledge to Empathica.  Prior to joining Empathica Steve held the position of Chief Operating Officer for Workbrain Incorporated.  Steve has also held senior roles at Ariba Incorporated.  He was part of the initial executive team at FASTech Integration and held key management positions at General Motors/Fanuc Robotics Corporation.  

 

Steve holds an MBA from Washington University and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Steve Prodger
Sales VP

Steve is Empathica’s vice president of sales and plays an instrumental role in formulating and executing the organization’s business development strategy on a global basis. With more than 12 years experience in the multi-unit retail space, Steve has gained a keen awareness of the industry drivers and specific needs of the market. His deep domain expertise and track record for forging high-value relationships with clients across a variety of industries has lead to highly successful results for some of the world’s best known foodservice and retail brands. Prior to joining Empathica in 2005, Steve held various executive and account management roles in the high-tech sector with such organizations as Dell Computers Inc.

Steve holds a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science with a focus on strategy and change management.

Andrew Datars
Products VP

Andrew is responsible for all aspects of new product development, including customer need and initial product vision, business planning, product development and product marketing. His major projects for 2008 include a hosted electronic marketing application for multi-unit retail organizations and a coordinated product platform including both Empathica’s existing Customer Experience Management suite and Empathica’s new marketing services application. Prior to joining Empathica in 2006 Andrew spent 9 years at Microsoft as one of the primary contributors to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

Andrew holds an M.Sc in Physics from the University of Toronto.

Paul Aussem
Information Technology VP

Paul is responsible for the leadership of the Empathica information systems and technology infrastructure. He joined Empathica in 2003 with over 20 years experience in software architecture, design, implementation and maintenance in various market sectors including software, telecommunications, e-commerce, government and industrial.