Leadership
Kore’s leadership team is built around one principle: real infrastructure gets deployed by people who’ve done it before, in the field, under scrutiny, with schedules that leave little room for error.
Cornelius Shields
Founder & CEO
Cornelius Shields is an investor and serial entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience building and growing companies.
After a successful career on Wall Street, he shifted focus to build Kore, a mission-driven company with an innovation that can solve the biggest environmental challenges of our time. He assembled a team that represents an exceptional alignment of environmental, business, and technical expertise. Together, they’ve leveraged a global network of strategic relationships across industries and sectors, leading Kore to develop a solution for turning waste into energy at scale.
J.J. Barney
Chief Operations Officer
An accomplished entrepreneur and leader, J.J. brings extensive experience overseeing operations for fast-growing technology and infrastructure companies.
With multiple acquisitions and exits on his resume, his background in strategic planning, operations, finance, IT and HR has been instrumental in translating vision into execution. Driven by a passion for solving complex problems, J.J. provides focused and hands-on leadership as Kore advances from R&D into commercial operations.
David Harding
Chief Financial Officer
David Harding has a background in tech-driven businesses and more than 30 years of experience as a financial expert in dynamic, fast-changing industries.
Formerly a Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Waste Management, he has served as CFO at several start-ups, including Remote Proximity, a pioneer in virtual meeting software. He has also served on the boards of a number of companies, including Arena, which produced digital authentication licenses for sports memorabilia. David has been with Kore since its inception.
Joseph Zuback
Technical Lead
Joe Zuback is a recognized global authority on environmental technology development, having served as the Chief Technology Officer for Siemens Water Technologies, where he oversaw $22 million in R&D activities and won the Siemens Inventor of the Year award.
He also served as a Senior Vice President for Corporate Projects at USFilter, where his oversight of acquisitions helped the company grow its revenue from $50 million to $5 billion in five years. Joe has more than 25 water technology patents, either awarded or pending.
Alex Klemt
VP Strategy and Finance:
Alex Klemt brings a disciplined approach to strategy, finance, and execution, helping translate complex ideas into clear plans and measurable results.
He has deep experience improving operational efficiency across technology, processes, and cross-functional teams. Known as a practical problem-solver, Alex works closely with leadership to structure decisions, align stakeholders, and keep execution grounded as Kore moves into scaled deployment.
