Meet our CEO Steven J. Keays. M.A.Sc., P.Eng.
“We live in an interconnected world where the needs of many nations form an economic ecosystem powered by the capabilities of other nations. Historically, these needs led to a colonizing impulse that operated on a zero-sum basis favoring the foreign direct investor. While globalization has not yet tamed this instinct, it has nevertheless awakened a sense of wealth sovereignty among those who possess the economic potential but not the expertise and capital to nurture it. Small nations and emerging economies realize that their long-term prosperity hinges unequivocally upon the necessity to maintain sovereignty over their national building efforts. Simply giving it up in return for a foreigner’s blank cheque doesn’t even make sense in the short term. This fundamental principle of sovereignty – moral, legal, and financial – of a nation over its human and resource wealth must govern the formulation and realization of its economic development.”
“We also live in a world awash with capital in search of viable investment opportunities, with estimates for the bond market reaching $100 trillion dollars. Private and public Infrastructure projects are superb sources of large-scale, high potential prospects. Yet, many face the daunting challenges of inadequate capitalization and inability to become reality. Simply put, too many prospects lack the investment quality to warrant serious considerations. This is especially true of small nations and emerging economies who suffer from a lack of expertise, resources, and execution experience – the implementation gap. Projects will attract investors when they are proven bankable and investible. These prerequisites demand a project structure that makes sense financially, economically, socially, and operationally.”
These words, by CEO Steven James Keays, are the cornerstones of the KPO Group’s philosophy of engagement with its clients wherever they are on the globe. “The KPO Group humbly sees itself as one enabler of this sovereignty when working with regional and national governments on infrastructure projects. We know who the boss is: the Client. And we know our place in the Client’s grand scheme of things: to bring forth the missing means to enable our Client to get infrastructure projects done.”
These statements encapsulate the Group’s fundamental perspective on business and commerce. They are the pillars upon which our vision and mission are built.
The bio
Steven Keays, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., is an entrepreneur, executive, author, keynote speaker and consultant in major projects, modularization & construction, innovation programs, digital-industrial transformations, and technology development. He is a four-decade veteran of the aerospace, construction, defense, energy, infrastructure, Oil & Gas, and space industries. He is a professional engineer (Canada), a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, founder & CEO of NAIAD Company Ltd, The Institute of Advanced Management, KPO Ventures, and the KPO Group.
Mr. Keays has written extensively on project management, innovation and technology, and digital strategies. His published works (all available on Amazon) include Le Big Bang Canadien (1993), by Les Editions Arion, Investment-Centric Project Management (2017) and Investment-Centric Innovation Project Management (2018), by J. Ross Publishing (USA), and The Binary Firm (2020), by Taylor and Francis.
Mr. Keays is also accomplished mechanical engineer with several US and Canadian patents to his name. His expertise comprises equipment design, structural analysis, system engineering, failure analysis, full-field (4D) non-linear finite stress analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and modular fabrication.