Kalev Ruberg is the CEO of Karu Advisory Ltd, and is dedicated to providing executive advisory services for industry in the digital technology, transformation and cyber realm.

Kalev Ruberg played an influential role at Teck from 2006 when he joined the organization as the Chief Information Officer and VP until his retirement in 2023 as Chief Innovation Officer and VP. His responsibilities included the development of strategy, architecture and operation of digital technologies for this global mining company’s business. His most recent promotion to the VP Future and Chief Innovation Officer in 2019 saw him defining the future of mining at Teck.

In 2020, Kalev was appointed Adjunct Professor at the Keevil School of Mining Engineering at UBC. He serves on the advisory Board of the National Research Council’s Energy, Mines and Environment Division and on the board of UBC’s Bradshaw Research Initiative for Minerals and Mining. As chair of the Global Mining Guidelines group he brings vision and leadership to this international mining technology organization. Recently, he was appointed Industry Research Fellow at CISR (Center for Information Systems Research), Sloan School, MIT.

Kalev has been active in the information systems arena for over 45 years. As a BSc and Masters graduate from MIT, he studied at the Architecture Machine Lab (now the Media Lab) before carrying out digital simulation research at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) in Washington DC, with projects at the University of California Berkeley, Los Alamos, and then at Georgia Tech, as an Assistant Professor.

In 1982 he joined Canada’s National Research Council in Ottawa, as a Senior Research Scientist where he developed machine learning algorithms in the artificial intelligence field. Joining IBM in 1989, he designed and deployed large machine learning, AI and advanced control systems for IBM Manufacturing and clients worldwide.

Building on his experience, in 1997 Kalev was appointed the CIO and Deputy Minister to the Finance Minister, at the Government of Manitoba, where he was responsible for the government’s Information Services. Subsequently, he led development at a B2B startup e-commerce company, and then became a VP at TELUS, where he was responsible for founding TELUS’ Healthcare vertical.

Before moving to Teck, Kalev was the CIO and Executive General Manager for Information Services at Placer Dome, formerly the largest gold mining enterprise in the world. Here he led the restructuring of technology services worldwide.

In addition to his work in the tech industry, Kalev is a recognized philanthropist who has contributed to several charitable causes in Canada, Estonia and beyond. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and events, sharing his expertise and insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.

Kalev has published more than 30 papers in proceedings and journals. In 2018, he was named to CIM Magazine’s 2018 Names to Know.