Niel Hiscox is Co-Founder and CEO of Clarify Group Inc., an automotive market research and advisory firm headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Niel leads the overall direction for Clarify Group, and is spearheading the launch of Clarify Group America LLC to fully support the company’s growth into the United States.

Prior to the launch of Clarify, Niel launched and continues to lead Universus Media Group Inc., an automotive marketing communications firm serving leading OEMs, industry associations and automotive industry suppliers. Alongside its agency activities, Universus is the publisher of Canadian auto dealer magazine and Affaires automobiles magazine, Canada’s leading print and digital media channels for new car dealers.

Niel is a past and founding member of KPMG’s Digital Strategies practice, a research and consulting practice developing internet strategy and go-to-market tactics for a range of international businesses.

As a recognized expert in the changes facing the automotive industry, Niel is a frequent speaker at industry events, including Reuter’s Automotive USA in Detroit, Cliff Bank’s Autovate event in Arizona, CADA’s Annual Summit, as well as events put on by provincial dealer associations across the country.

Niel earned a DEC in Pure & Applied Science from John Abbott College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, and an MBA from McGill University.

Darren Slind joined Clarify Group in 2021 as equity partner and Managing Director after a distinguished tenure leading global business units for J.D. Power. Most recently, Darren led the Company’s operations across South Asia, South East Asia and Oceania as Region President. He was responsible for client service and the delivery of voice-of-the-customer based insights and solutions that supported the growth and success of corporate clients in multiple industries across nine countries including India, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.

Prior to his assignment in Singapore, Darren led J.D. Power automotive operations in Canada and Latin America from 2011 to 2017 as Senior Director. He established the Mexico City and São Paulo offices and led these businesses to rapid growth. Darren joined J.D. Power Canada in 2000 as Director of the Performance Improvement Practice before assuming the role of Country Manager in 2009. Darren began his career at Xerox Canada Ltd. before joining Nissan Canada Inc. in sales and dealer operations for both the Nissan and Infiniti Brands.

Darren leads Clarify research, data analytics and consulting operations including the corporate office team in Markham, the national team of automotive retail excellence and hospitality experience coaches and the Company’s global network of strategic alliance partners. As a respected industry analyst, Darren is a frequent conference speaker and regular contributor to Canadian auto dealer and Affaires automobiles magazines on topics including customer experience and industry transformation.

Darren earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA with distinction from the Schulich School of Business, York University. He completed the Digital Business Strategy online executive program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management in 2020.

Dr. Gordon Shields has over 25 years experience in market research, analytics and customer experience, conducting research and advisory projects for clients across Europe, Indo-Pacific, South East Asia, GCC and North America.

Before establishing his own UK-based research agency in 2020, Angus MacBride, Gordon held several senior leadership roles at J.D. Power in Singapore and Europe from 2003 to 2020, most recently leading the agency’s research work on electric vehicle benchmarking, EV adoption and ownership experience. Angus MacBride Research Consultancy is a strategic partner of Clarify Group—the two companies frequently collaborate to deliver exceptional results to our clients.

Gordon’s focus is on supporting leading global brands on brand health, customer experience, product performance and quality improvement projects. In addition, he has managed a series of market entry studies from Australia to Thailand and is equally comfortable running competitor intelligence projects.

As a highly experienced international researcher, Gordon manages single and complex multi-market quantitative and qualitative studies, augmented (social media-based) research, as well as providing deep insights to clients via senior stakeholder workshops and ideation sessions.

Gordon has led Clarify research engagements for several Canadian clients including Genesis (in-depth dealer interviews and guest virtual focus groups), Volkswagen (in-depth dealer interviews, CX performance and strategy), Cox Automotive (brand health and CSAT benchmarking), Canadian International AutoShow (visitor experience study), Montréal International Auto Show (visitor experience study), Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance (visitor experience study) and AIA Canada (various projects).

Gordon received his doctorate from the Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany in Political Science and completed postdoctoral work in statistical methods at Oxford.

Brian Murphy is a respected automotive industry analyst with multi-faceted experience across automakers and industry leading data and analytics firms.

Brian initially joined the Clarify Group team as Senior Consultant in 2023 supporting multiple strategy projects for Clarify clients in addition to leading his own practice, Vehicle Vision Advisory Services. As of September 2025, Brian joins the Clarify leadership team as Vice President, Advisory Services.

Prior to Clarify, Brian was Managing Director of Kelley Blue Book and Data Solutions for Cox Automotive, as well as the company’s Canadian Site Leader. Brian’s team was responsible for KBB data services in Canada, Brazil and Australia. Prior to joining Cox, Brian was Vice President of Canadian Black Book where he led the research and analytics teams from 2016 to 2021.

From 2011 to 2016 Brian was Senior Manager in both the Power Information Network (vehicle pricing and incentive spending analytics) and Global Automotive Consulting practices at J.D. Power.

Brian began his automotive career at Subaru Canada in product planning, pricing strategy, market research and media relations. Brian worked extensively with syndicated research providers like J.D. Power and Ipsos, as well as proprietary research partners to understand customer expectations and requirements. After seven years at Subaru, Brian joined Nissan Canada where he led marketing and advertising for the Infiniti brand.

Brian holds an MBA in marketing from McMaster University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Administrative and Commercial Studies (Economics and Finance) from the University of Western Ontario.

Brian resides in the Greater Toronto Area.

Paula Pronesti is Clarify Group Inc.’s Director of Finance & Administration. In that capacity, Paula oversees the day to day administration of our business, including all aspects of Clarify’s accounting and finance.

Paula began her professional finance career in 2012 working for ERS International, a world wide recycling company with factories in three continents. Her love for numbers and solid grounding in accounting principles helped her grow through a series of increasing responsibilities and grow her impact on the organisation’s strategic and financial goals.

Paula joined Universus in 2017. Over the past seven years she has been a key player on the senior management team, contributing to the organisation’s overall strategic planning and decision-making process. Her strong communication skills have helped her lead her own team, while collaborating with other departments, clients and vendors.

At Clarify, Paula plays a critical role in managing the financial aspects of the organisation. She is responsible for overseeing financial planning, budgeting, reporting, and ensuring the organisation’s financial health.

Paula earned her Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University, and graduated from the Accounting Management program at Humber College.

Kushal Dhamija joined Clarify Group with almost a decade of automotive industry and consulting experience on two continents.

Kushal began his career in 2012 in sales and dealer operations with two leading automakers — Tata Motors and Honda Cars India.

He then joined the automotive practice of Ernst & Young in the Mumbai office in 2016 as a consultant, supporting retail standards, customer experience, financial performance and business transformation projects across multiple clients including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Skoda-Volkswagen. Kushal was promoted to senior consultant in 2018.

On arrival in Canada, Kushal joined Tiger Auto Parts Ltd. in 2020 with responsibility for business development and account management across the collision repair sector. Kushal added concurrent responsibility for customer service shortly thereafter.

At Clarify, Kushal provides expert project management and advisory support to our clients as well as to our national performance coaching team. Kushal leads project management on the Genesis Foundations Luxury Guest Experience program as well as the Clarify automotive data subscription business, specifically leading ongoing client engagements with AIA Canada and GFS.

Kushal earned his MBA from the Welingkar Institute of Management, a Bachelor of Technology degree from Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, and completed the Sales and Marketing Bridging program at Humber College in Toronto.

Teresa Yung leads Clarify’s research and data visualization capabilities.

Previously, Teresa was Universus Media Group’s Associate Creative Director, and the heart and soul of the Retail Experience studio team as product manager of Sesimi, a SaaS-based digital creative asset management solution.

A graduate of York University’s design school (Bachelor of Design, Hons), Teresa brings a wide range of design experience across both digital and print platforms, achieved by working with many of Canada’s leading brands.

Traditional media roles include time with both The Globe and Mail and Canadian Living magazine. In the retail space, Teresa has worked with the frozen yogurt retailer Yogen Früz (the world leader in the frozen yogurt category, with over 1,400 locations operating in 47 countries around the world) and sister companies: Yogurty’s Froyo, Jamba Juice Canada, and Swensen’s (Asia-based) in designing both digital and in-store campaigns as well as cross-brand partnership creative with Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Disney Canada/Marvel), and the Toronto Blue Jays).

In the automotive space, Teresa has 10+ years of experience working with leading OEM brands including Toyota, Lexus, Volkswagen, Subaru and Genesis. Both from a creative agency role leading the design on cross-platform campaigns and also working closely with AoRs of the brands to launch campaigns within the Sesimi platform and to deliver creative and assets to dealer bodies.

Teresa has been lead research project manager at Clarify since 2024 including all Visitor Experience studies for leading auto shows across North America (New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver), all research and analytics projects with the CADA and the Brand Health study for Sym-Tech Dealer Services.