The AMA Team

George Ayres - Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors
George Ayres

Managing Director

“I’ve been interested in the motor industry as long as I can remember. Maybe it was learning to ride a mini-bike at age of 6 that did it for me. Since then I’ve ridden my 1975 Honda CB750F across the US, and been lucky to work for Ford Motor Company in many different roles, including helping to launch the Shelby Cobra GT-500, and for Jaguar Cars both in the UK and the US, where I got to work with great teams building cars like the XKR Silverstone and the all-aluminum XJ. And I’ve led sales at Verizon Telematics, created digital transformation solutions as an IoT leader at IBM, and led partnership development for a connected car start-up. Now at AutoMobility Advisors, I get to help our clients scale and build their automotive and mobility solutions, creating opportunities for them with Automakers, Tier 1 suppliers, Enterprise Fleets, EV makers, and New Mobility Ecosystem players. How can we help you?”

Learn more about George

Dan Teeter - Advisory Director of AutoMobility Advisors
Dan Teeter

Advisory Director

Cars and trucks have been in my blood for as long as I can remember! It started with me playing with trucks in the sandbox in our backyard, collecting Matchbox cars, building model cars, and trucks, and then moving on to subscribing to various car magazines as a teenager and landing a job with Ford right out of college. I’ve been fortunate to work in many areas of the auto business: first in the field calling on dealers where I met George many years ago and then in various headquarters roles such as volume forecasting and strategy. This is also where I learned to apply Six Sigma to transactional business processes and became an expert in market intelligence. The last 8 years have been great too where I got to run a virtual start-up at Nissan in one of the hottest fields there is: Connected Services. I look forward to applying my skills and experience to our AutoMobility Advisors’ clients.

Learn more about Dan

Chip Goetzinger

Solutions Director

“The advent of connected cars gave me the opportunity to merge two of my lifelong interests – cars and technology. I’ve been into computers and connectivity since the early days of the internet, and I studied computer science at MIT to launch my career in technology in Silicon Valley. Cars, for me, began as a hobby and a passion, from model cars to radio-controlled cars and finally to tuning my own cars, car shows, and amateur racing. After business school at Kellogg, I formally switched industries and took a job with Nissan where I found my niche by co-founding and helping grow their connected services organization from 3 people to 60+. Managing the technical delivery of Nissan’s programs and, later, leading SXM CV’s Product and PMO organizations gave me the technical and connected car experience to help our clients at AutoMobility Advisors navigate the next frontier in automotive.”

Lear more about Chip Goetzinger

Guillaume Bernhardt

Principal Consultant

“Passionate about energy and mobility, I had the chance to support the most innovative mobility startups as a corporate investor and as an entrepreneur. 

I am a strong believer in the power of innovation in its capacity to make mobility more accessible, efficient and sustainable. “

Learn more about Guillaume Bernhardt

Partha Goswami PhD
Partha Goswami P.h.D.

Principal Consultant​ | Technology Strategy

I see my 30+ years of automotive tenure in two phases – pre-iPhone & post-iPhone. But, no I am not a phone nerd. I am talking about Steve Jobs first introducing the notion of a “platform” that enabled an ever-growing role of a device to transcend from its original function of making audio calls. I realized back then that the same idea is soon going to remake the automobile and that sparked my passion and rechanneled my career to understand the emerging digital transformation founded on the four pillars of CASE (Connectivity, Autonomous, Software, Electrification).

My automotive background spans product and technology development, R&D, Strategic Planning and a host of business assignments including brand strategy and capital planning, most of it in one global OEM. In my most recent role in General Motors as Professional Fellow of technology insight, I was responsible for identifying technology trends and innovations, evangelizing and exploring future implications and cascading strategic recommendations to leadership including Board of Directors.  

As a longtime industry observer, outside my OEM role, I have been fortunate to know and work with a host of tech experts, analysts and wonderful professionals from all facets of the industry that has inspired me to jump into the next phase as a freelance consultant. This love affair with the industry inspires me to continue to speak at numerous industry forums on emerging tech and the future of the automobile, chair SAE’s Vehicle IoT working committee and act in advisory capacities with organizations like LA Automobility, George Washington University, Auto Tech etc. 

Learn more about Partha Goswami, Ph D

Hayden Teeter
Hayden Teeter

Head of Market Research

“My name is Hayden Teeter. I am an undergrad at Harvard University concentrating in history. I am also an Air Force ROTC cadet at MIT Detachment 365 aiming to commission as an intelligence officer in the Air Force! When I’m not in school, you can find me playing ultimate frisbee and driving my 2003 Mustang GT convertible!”

Learn more about Hayden Teeter

 

Mariestella Colón Astacio

Creative Director

“I am a Creative Director (25+ years of experience), visual artist, & the trauma informed yoga teacher of the healing yoga app. When I am not in front of a computer I might be teaching yoga or holding on to a paintbrush covered in paint. I am passionate about beauty and great-functioning design. Throughout my career, my design approach and web solutions have been successful in achieving my client’s business and design goals.

Since AutoMobility Advisors’ beginning, I have had the privilege to collaborate with a diverse and expanding team of automotive executives. In my role, I provide vital support and ensure access to essential resources, enabling our experts to consistently deliver top-notch solutions for our clients. This experience has been incredibly fulfilling, and I am excited to continue contributing to our clients’ success in the future.

Learn more about Mariestella Colón Astacio

Kap Shah

Principal Consultant

I have been an automotive enthusiast ever since I played with Matchbox & Hot Wheels cars as a young child. My enthusiasm and passion for all things automotive runs deep in my soul. I began my career in the auto industry working in experiential marketing for AMCI as a side job while working as a mechanical engineer. After pursuing my MBA, I worked in various subsets of the auto industry at companies such as Audi of America, Edmunds, TrueCar, J.D. Power, Autonomy as well as startups in FinTech or the data analytics space. That experience in various parts of the industry as well as a variety of functions lends me a unique capability to serve our clients any function or capacity that they may need.

Learn more about Kap Shah

Allen Levenson

Principal Consultant​ | Data & Analytics​

Coming soon

Learn more about Allen Levenson

AutoMobility Advisors Team Spotlight

George Ayres

George Ayres, Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors
George Ayres, Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors

George Ayres is the Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors, a boutique automotive consulting practice serving automotive technology start-ups. Prior to founding AMA in 2021, George was the Executive Vice President of Partnerships at Dallas, TX based start-up Vinli, a connected vehicle services provider for large enterprise fleets. Ayres also served as a Client Partner for Automotive IoT at IBM and the VP Global Sales of Verizon Telematics, now Verizon Connect. And he has also held leadership roles at both Ford Motor Company and Jaguar Cars over a career spanning three decades in the
automotive industry.

George with the new Ford F-150 Lightning
George checking out the new VinFast models at the NY Auto Show 2022


“The automotive industry is constantly changing and there’s a lot of
expansion within the mobility, EV, connected, and autonomous vehicle space
right now,” says Ayres. “My motivation has always been to stay on the leading edge of this high-tech digital transformation, and that’s why I started my own consulting business, to help new technology companies access automotive opportunities and scale up their great ideas.

Combining performance and electric technology, two of George’s passions.
Meeting Electric Vehicle Industry leaders at the NY Auto Show 2022.

George interacting with the VinFast driver information system.


“Beyond automotive, industries from retail to insurance are using mobile technology, geo-location targeting, and micro-personalized data to be even more relevant to their customers,” says Ayres “What these companies want to figure out is how to leverage transportation and vehicle data so they can engage with their customers better and integrate it with the other information they already have. AutoMobility Advisors can help them lead in this space.”

Talking about cars with Chris Feuell, CEO of Chrysler.

George began his career as a motorcycle mechanic, and still has the first motorcycle he bought in high school. He has been interested in the motor industry throughout his life and has worked all over the world, with nearly every automaker and supplier, helping them implement new transformative ideas. George lives in Marietta, Georgia with his wife and son, and still likes to ride motorcycles or his mountain bike, relax with a poetry book, or just fish.

George riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Gratuitous Corvette photo, George’s favorite topic.

Dan Teeter

Dan Teeter, Advisory Director of AutoMobility Advisors

Dan Teeter, a leader in automotive connected vehicles and market intelligence, has joined AutoMobility Advisors as Advisory Director. Dan has over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry at companies like Ford and Nissan, where he recently led the Connected Vehicles program for North America.

At AMA, Dan will work with AMA clients, automotive start-ups, technology companies, investors, and researchers to help them scale and succeed in the automotive and transportation connectivity, mobility, digitalization, and innovation spaces.

Dan Teeter speaking to the Intelligent Mobility initiative and creating Innovation that Excites at the Hytch Rewards launch at Nissan Stadium

With a background in all facets of Connected Vehicles, Market Intelligence, Six Sigma, Business Transformation, Field Operations, and Business Strategy, Dan brings a wealth of experience and a current OEM perspective to clients for solving the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Dan’s interview at TU Automotive – Detroit

Dan has always looked to do great things such as achieving an industry leader-level satisfaction rating with automotive mobile apps, voice assistant integrations, and connectivity feature offerings. In fact, Dan did some of the earliest research at Ford on customer acceptance of hybrid electric vehicles, Bluetooth, and connected vehicle technologies. George Ayres, Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors said, “Dan brings terrific energy and solid experience in mobility, connectivity, and customer experience research to the AMA team and will help stimulate our clients to their own greatness as they scale and grow their business.”

Dan Teeter, Director of Vehicle Connected Services for Nissan sharing insight with Brentwood Home Page on the partnership between Nissan and Hytch.
Dan and Chip at CES 2017

Dan Teeter said, “I’ve known George since the 1990s and look forward to helping him and the AutoMobility Advisors team, and most importantly, our clients, develop new opportunities and create strategies that help lead the way in the automotive industry.”

Dan has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Go Quakers! Go Blue! Dan is a dedicated husband and he and his wife are the proud parents of two sons. Dan loves spending quality time watching their kids play Ultimate Frisbee for their respective high school and college teams. Before embarking on his automotive career, Dan thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine on his first-ever backpacking trip: Proving once and for all that it is possible to succeed if you have a positive attitude and take things one step at a time!

AMA and the Teeter family visits 2hire in Rome, Italy
Dan Teeter and family visit 2hire in Rome, Italy
Dan Teeter and family visit 2hire’s headquarters in Rome, Italy

Chip Goetzinger

Chip Goetzinger, Deputy GM of Vehicle Connected Services at Nissan, in a fireside chat with Otonomo at
TU-Automotive Detroit sharing insights on vehicle data value.

Chip Goetzinger is a seasoned executive with over 10 years of leadership
experience in the connected vehicle sector on both the OEM and tier 1 supplier side.

Chip with Nissan Vehicle Connected Services colleagues accepting Telematics Update’s Industry Newcomer Award for NissanConnect.

In addition to experience in other automotive roles and nearly a decade in Silicon
Valley. In his connected vehicle and other roles, Chip has successfully built and
grown organizations in both entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial environments.

Chip Goetzinger, VP & GM of Connected Products at SiriusXM Connected Vehicles launching their new ACN+ product with a TU-Automotive Detroit keynote.

For the last 3 years, Chip worked for SiriusXM Connected Vehicle Services as VP and
GM in various roles from Strategy to Connected Products to Planning, PMO, and
Agile. His focus was on the CV strategic and product roadmap, defining products to
deliver customer and stakeholder value, corporate strategic growth plan, and
governance.

Chip showing off his Nashville Predators pride with a matching Predators-liveried Nissan GT-R.

For the prior 12 years, Chip worked for Nissan North America. He was one of the
founding members of Nissan North America’s connected services organization and
was Deputy General Manager of Technology for that team, responsible for
requirements, architecture, program management, and quality assurance.

Chip also has extensive experience in Silicon Valley in product management and
business development including co-founding and running a decision software
startup.

Chip posing with his 2022 NASA Mid South Region Time Trials championship trophy.

Chip also enjoys cars in his spare time. He modifies and races his Shelby GT350 while working to build a dedicated race car for future seasons and always has a couple of other projects around as well.

Chip’s Shelby GT350 at Nashville Superspeedway, his home track.

Chip holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from MIT
and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Hayden Teeter

AMA and the Teeter family visits 2hire in Rome, Italy
Hayden Teeter and family visit 2hire in Rome, Italy
Hayden Teeter and family visit 2hire’s headquarters in Rome, Italy

Allen Levenson

Allen at the Detroit Auto Show with a few amazing colleagues from the General Motors’ Chief Data & Analytics Office
Interviewed by auto industry expert, Jason Harris, for his “Strategy With Jason” podcast.
Allen with his daughter at the GM Heritage Museum.
Walking the Detroit Motor City Pride parade.
Allen loves minivans (he owned 4).  This last one made it through all 4 daughters in high school.  Of course, one
day he pulled into a strip mall and found it parked like this…gotta love your kids!

Partha Goswami Ph. D.

Discussing the industry roadmap for brought-in Vs. built-in infotainment system at CVTA (Connected Vehicle Trade Association) Circa 2014
Judging university teams at an SAE student autonomous design competition at ACM (American Center for Mobility) – April 2023
Discussing trends and challenges at a Mobility panel at 2023 Michigan VTM event (Vehicle & Transportation Technology Innovation Meeting)
Reviewing General Motors Ultimum battery-electric presentation during floor tour at the North American Auto Show 2023
Discussing pickup truck ADAS & pedestrian safety issue at the Detroit auto show, with Aftermarket ADAS engineering lead Mike Muller of SEMA (Speciality Equipment Market Association) in front of the new GMC AT4X HD truck

Guillaume Bernhardt

Coming soon!

Kap Shah

Coming soon!

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