General Manager, Operational Technology & Business Improvement
Emeco Group
- Leading the Operational Technology and Business Improvement function across Emeco Group's mining services portfolio.
I engineer machine intelligence to outperform in business and industry.
Cristián López
Senior Digital Analytics & OT Leader
Heavy Industries x AI x Transformation
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About
Turning complex operations into high-performance systems.
Born in Chile and forged in some of the world's most complex mining operations, I have spent 14 years turning industrial systems into high-performance, data-driven operations. I have led digital transformation across Glencore and Codelco, delivering AI, advanced analytics, autonomy, electrification, automation, and IT/OT convergence across large-scale mining and processing environments.
My work sits at the intersection of engineering rigour and machine intelligence, where operational reality informs every model, system, and decision framework I help build with teams. I lead with curiosity, execute with precision, and believe the most important technology is still the people who use it.
None of what is written here was achieved alone. Throughout my career, I have been surrounded by highly skilled people who taught me, challenged me, and worked alongside me. I hope that I have also created a positive impact in their lives. They know who they are, and I thank each of them sincerely.
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Years Mining & Tech
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Portfolio Value Led
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Transformation Initiatives
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Languages (ES · EN · FR)
Expertise Model
The Comb-Shaped Professional
I value this framework not only as a personal development model but as a tool I have used throughout my career to model human ability and skillsets. When assembling high-performance teams, I think of people as pieces of a puzzle: I never bring individuals with similar shapes together, as that polarises thinking and produces biased outcomes. Instead, I deliberately combine different shapes to cover a bigger picture and maximise collective capability.
I encourage you to learn more about this framework and discover which shape fits you best — see this deep dive. Toggle and hover the shapes below to see how I have consciously developed myself over time.
Career
The Journey
Senior Manager, Digital Analytics & OT
Glencore
- Leads $25M+ CAPEX digital optimisation portfolio aimed at improving business and industrial processes.
- Designed an agnostic data architecture and governance model to enhance Management Operating Systems through a Virtual Performance Centre (VPC), enabling data-driven decision-making across global assets.
- Responsible for driving asset modernisation strategies across Global Copper Assets and delivering $150M+ OPEX reduction targets in Australian Zinc/Lead assets.
Founder
OutpaceOps
- Founded OutpaceOps, a boutique consultancy that applies operational intelligence and AI expertise to help organisations outperform.
Global Digital Analytics Manager
Glencore
- Established Digital Maturity baselines and led Technological Roadmapping across all Glencore Copper assets, creating the strategic foundation to scale advanced analytics across a global portfolio.
- Delivered fine copper uplift at multiple sites via XGBoost, EMCEE, and advanced process control optimisation models.
- Built and mentored cross-functional data science, automation, and data engineering teams across three continents.
Corporate Director of Digital Transformation
Codelco
- 9.7% copper grade uplift via ML prescriptive models at Chuquicamata.
- Founded Codelco's first corporate data science unit and data governance committee.
- Built Mi Codelco 2.0 app to mitigate and better manage HSEC COVID protocols, deployed across all Codelco operations within 72 hours.
Director of Innovation
Codelco El Teniente
- Led digital, automation, and electrification strategy and execution at the world's largest underground copper mine.
- Deployed LightGBM comminution models achieving measurable throughput gains
- Established innovation pipeline and digital-physical integration roadmap
Product Manager
Tiger Spider
- Led cloud-based multi-body dynamics SaaS platform for heavy vehicle logistics
- Winner, ANZ Innovation Hackathon 2016
- Presented at HVTT15 (Rotterdam) on cloud computing for heavy vehicle optimisation
Mining & Process Engineer
Antofagasta PLC
- Designed in-house truck dispatch system, reducing fleet idle time by 18%.
- Built truck-fleet simulation models for mine planning and grade control optimisation.
- Winner of the Energy Optimisation Best Project award, recognised by Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and the Antofagasta Graduate Program.
Research Assistant
AMTC, University of Chile
- Applied Synthetic Rock Mass modelling to characterise rock mass behaviour at El Teniente
- Published at FLAC/DEM Symposium 2013, Hangzhou, China
Global Footprint
A Career Across the World
From the Atacama Desert to the Queensland coast, click any marker to explore the work done there.
Research & Speaking
Publications & Conference Presentations
Procemin-GEOMET 2019 · Santiago, Chile
Optimising SAG Plant production using Advanced Analytics at Codelco El Teniente
Presented prescriptive ML model results achieving 6.06% fine copper uplift via XGBoost/EMCEE Bayesian optimisation of SAG mill operations.
HVTT15 2018 · Rotterdam, Netherlands
Leveraging Cloud Computing for Heavy Vehicle Optimisation
Demonstrated cloud-native architecture for real-time multi-body dynamics simulation applied to heavy haulage fleet management.
FLAC/DEM Symposium 2013 · Hangzhou, China
Application of Synthetic Rock Mass to characterise rock mass behaviour at El Teniente Mine
Applied discrete element modelling to quantify geomechanical behaviour in block cave operations; foundational research for mine stability planning.
Education & Credentials
Academic Foundation
Master of Information Systems
University of Melbourne
Becas Chile full scholarship recipient
Graduate Diploma, Mining Business Management
Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
Mining Engineering, Geomechanics
Universidad de Chile
Bachelor of Engineering Science, Extractive Mining & Metallurgy
Universidad de Chile
Recognition & Certifications
Philosophy
What I Stand For
Excellence
I hold myself to high standards. Every deliverable, decision, and interaction is executed with the same rigour I apply to a production-critical system.
Loyalty
I invest in people and partnerships for the long term. Trust is built through consistency, not contracts. The teams I have led know I have their back.
Growth
Stagnation is the only real failure. I pursue continuous improvement relentlessly: in the models I build, the teams I lead, and the person I am becoming.
Knowledge
I strive for balance between applied insight and theoretical abstraction. I have learned to ask better questions through years on the front line, executing and optimising, and to value everyone's knowledge and experience, even in the simplest things.
Balance
Sustainable peak performance requires renewal. All of us need to "sharpen the saw" from time to time. Invest in how you live.
Contact
Let's build something
Let's build something
that matters.
Open to senior leadership roles, advisory engagements, and speaking invitations at the intersection of mining, AI, and digital transformation.
LinkedIn
Brisbane, Australia