# Vicki Knott

> Vicki Knott is the CEO and co-founder of CruxOCM, a Calgary-based industrial autonomy software company building AI-powered automation for oil and gas control rooms. A chemical engineer (P.Eng.) who started on the plant floor and trained as a pipeline control room operator at TransCanada, she left in 2017 to co-found CruxOCM with Roger Shirt. Her company's RIPA (Robotic Industrial Process Automation) technology automates the manual, high-stakes work of pipeline operators, and raised a $17M Series A led by Microsoft's M12 venture fund in 2024.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at CruxOCM
- **Organizations:** CruxOCM, TransCanada Pipelines (former)
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick
- **Known for:** Co-founded CruxOCM and built its RIPA (Robotic Industrial Process Automation) technology, achieving up to a 99% reduction in control room operator workload on oil pipeline gathering systems, Raised a $17M Series A in 2024 led by Microsoft's M12 venture fund; company total funding around $31.5M, Signed CruxOCM's first multi-year, eight-figure customer contract

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked in a pulp and paper mill to understand plant operations before engineering solutions
- **Pre-2017** — Held roles at TransCanada Pipelines in commercial operations, process control engineering, and control room operations; trained as a control room operator and met future co-founder Roger Shirt
- **2017** — Left TransCanada to start work on CruxOCM
- **2018** — Co-founded CruxOCM with Roger Shirt; selected for the Techstars Energy program in Oslo, Norway
- **2020** — CruxOCM launched pipeBOT
- **2021** — CruxOCM launched leanOPT and maxOPT
- **2022** — CruxOCM named Startup of the Year at Edge Computing World
- **2023** — CruxOCM won a Silver Stevie Award for Energy Industry Innovation
- **2024** — CruxOCM won an ASTech Award for AI/ML advancement and closed a $17M Series A led by Microsoft's M12 venture fund

## Achievements

- Co-founded CruxOCM and built its RIPA (Robotic Industrial Process Automation) technology, achieving up to a 99% reduction in control room operator workload on oil pipeline gathering systems
- Raised a $17M Series A in 2024 led by Microsoft's M12 venture fund; company total funding around $31.5M
- Signed CruxOCM's first multi-year, eight-figure customer contract
- Led CruxOCM to Edge Computing World Startup of the Year (2022), a Silver Stevie Award (2023), and an ASTech Award (2024)
- One of a handful of companies selected globally for the Techstars Energy accelerator (2018)
- Registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.)

## Latest updates

- **2024-08** — CruxOCM closed a $17M Series A led by Microsoft's M12 venture fund
- **2024** — CruxOCM won an ASTech Award for AI/ML advancement

## Links

- Website: https://cruxocm.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vicki-knott-p-eng-00b0ab27
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/CruxOcm
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/CruxOcm/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vicki-knott
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-24