Our team is comprised of top-tier, experienced consulting professionals who are highly motivated to help our clients succeed

  • We deploy the right mix of experience and skills for each project – a strong fit based on our client’s needs 
  • Our Data Science expertise is blended with strategy consulting experience – not an adjunct practice, but collaboration focused on solving our clients’ issues
  • We have relationships with a deep group of independent consultants and data science experts – we can flex as needed to bring added experience to support our clients
  • Experience with top-tier consulting firms as well as private equity and banking – proven track record
  • We are easy to work with – our clients view us as an extension of their team

Meet The Team

Michael Connerty

Michael Connerty

Founder and Managing Partner

Michael Connerty

Founder and Managing Partner

mconnerty@groovesg.com

708-800-6454

Industry Experience

  • Manufacturing
  • Distribution
  • Industrial and Commercial Services
  • Industrial Technology & Automation

Service Expertise

  • Strategy
  • Strategy Execution
  • Commercial Excellence
  • M&A

Michael is a trusted advisor to Corporate and Private Equity clients with a strong track record of helping them develop and implement strategies that create shareholder value.  With over 28 years of experience, he has completed 100+ projects across all of Groove’s services for B2B companies.  He has served numerous Fortune 1000 companies and middle and lower market private equity firms and their portfolio companies.

Based in Chicago, Michael works closely with client leadership teams to help them make sound investment decisions, develop the right strategic plans to grow their business and help them execute to realize targeted, sustainable results.

Prior to founding Groove Strategy Group, Michael was a Managing Director and Partner at L.E.K. Consulting and worked with Alvarez & Marsal supporting clients with M&A and growth.  Earlier in his career, he worked for a private equity firm focused on Industrials in North America and Europe, as well as banking where he supported middle market B2B companies with M&A and financings.

Michael has written and co-authored numerous articles on topics including Strategy, Commercial Excellence, Strategy Execution, M&A, Commercial Organization Models and the Internet of Things, and has been published in Harvard Business Review, Industry Week, and other media.

He received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  He was a Chick Evans Scholarship recipient at U of I, a four-year, full-tuition scholarship.

In his spare time, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, telling dad jokes that his two teenagers occasionally find funny, and pretending that he can play golf well.

Jennifer Kozak

Jennifer Kozak

Managing Director

Jennifer Kozak

Managing Director

jkozak@groovesg.com

617-459-6074

Industry Experience

  • Industrial Products & Services
  • Business Services
  • Technology  
  • Healthcare 
  • Life Sciences

Service Expertise

  • Commercial Excellence 
  • Go-to-Market Transformation 
  • Strategic Growth Planning 
  • Market & Opportunity Assessment 
  • Market Entry Planning 

Jennifer Kozak is a Managing Director with over 15 years of experience solving business problems at leading specialty consulting firms and private equity clients.  She has worked with over 30 different companies and investors to accelerate revenue growth across B2B industries, including industrial, engineered products, business services, technology, healthcare, and life sciences, industries. Her areas of expertise include strategic growth plan development, commercial excellence, go-to-market model transformation, market & opportunity assessment and market entry planning.

Jennifer’s clients have included Fortune 500 companies and numerous top private equity firms including Bain Capital, Aurora Capital, ONEX, Advent International, Rockbridge Growth Equity, Linden Capital Partners and others. Jennifer was previously a Principal and Engagement Manager with Blue Ridge Partners in Chicago, a leading specialty consulting firm focused exclusively on revenue growth.  

Jennifer holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from The University of Richmond Robins School of Business where she graduated summa cum laude.

In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys spending time with family, playing platform tennis, biking and taking her two boys to the beach. 

Joe Putnik

Joe Putnik

Lead Data Scientist

Joe Putnik

Lead Data Scientist

jputnik@groovesg.com

303-646-7676

Industry Experience

  • Distribution
  • Retail and CPG
  • Financial and Business Services
  • Technology, Media & Entertainment

Service Expertise

  • Growth Strategy
  • Commercial Excellence
  • Agile Transformation and Program Management
  • Digital Product Development

Data Science Expertise

  • AI/Machine Learning
  • Business Intelligence
  • Data Mining and Statistical Exploration
  • Natural Language Processing

Joe is a passionate and experienced consultant and coach, focused on helping his clients leverage modern Data Science methods to solve business problems.  He has supported many clients across industries and is especially skilled at generating data insights that lead to customer, product and service growth opportunities.  While clients have come to rely upon Joe to help them achieve results, they typically find he also ends up strengthening their teams along the way.

He has served a wide variety of companies, including Fortune 500, middle and lower middle market companies across a variety of B2B industries. His Data Science expertise includes exploratory data analysis, data visualization, data wrangling, and machine learning modeling. Joe is particularly adept at translating business requirements into data and technical details while ensuring the right focus on the business issues.

Joe received a Masters in Data Science, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence, from Northwestern University.   He received his B.S. from the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business where he majored in Information Management and Finance.  Joe was a Chick Evans Scholarship recipient at CU, a four-year, full-tuition scholarship.​

When he is not thinking deeply about data science, Joe enjoys spending his time serving on a variety of volunteer junior boards for the Western Golf Association, Young Catholic Professionals, Catholic Charities, the University of Colorado, and the Leeds School of Business.

Brian Vicari

Brian Vicari

Brian Vicari

Industry Experience

  • Industrial Manufacturing
  • Industrial Distribution
  • Industrial Services
  • MedTech

Service Expertise

  • Pricing Optimization
  • Commercial Excellence
  • Strategy
  • Program Management

Brian has 10 years of post-MBA Management Consulting experience, including Boston Consulting Group and Marakon in Chicago.  He has a wide variety of functional experience primarily with B2B companies, focusing on Pricing, Growth Strategy and Execution, and Transformation and Program Management.

He enjoys helping clients leverage analytics to drive action and has extensive experience working with commercial teams to identify, prioritize, and implement growth and optimization opportunities.

Brian graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Honors Italian Literature and holds a joint JD/MBA from the University of Chicago / Booth (both with honors).

When he’s not typing away at his comically large mobile workstation, he enjoys Notre Dame football, vegetable gardening, and cooking, but mostly spends his time with his three daughters.

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Contact Groove Strategy Group to discuss how we can help your company grow profitably.