As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. – Bill Gates

Meet Our Leadership Team

Harry Zarek

President & CEO

Founded Compugen in 1981

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Harry Zarek first developed an interest in computers as an engineering student. In 1981, the same year IBM launched the personal computer, Harry started a small business in the basement of his Toronto home, building and selling PCs and setting them up for customers. He called the company Compugen, short for "computer generation".

Under Harry’s stewardship, the small basement-based company has grown to become one of Canada’s largest IT solutions providers, with a track record that consistently exceeds the industry average.

Harry’s core principles have always been customer value and satisfaction.

His focus is on sales and marketing activities and developing long-term business strategies to position the company as a trusted partner to its customers and vendors.

Harry holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto. He is an active investor and a member of the board of directors for a number of early stage technology companies in Canada and the US, and sits on the board of the Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Harry’s weekend hobbies include road biking and home improvement projects.

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Karen Atkinson

Vice President of Operations

Joined Compugen in 2017

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As Vice President of Operations, Karen leads Compugen’s supply chain team in delivering services that exceed customer expectations. The team is driven and focused on providing end-to-end supply chain solutions, looking through the lens of the customer to provide optimal value.

Karen joins Compugen with a wealth of experience in supply chain transformation in both telecom and retail industries, holding leadership roles in purchasing, inventory management, distribution and logistics. She has led numerous programs that deliver optimized inventory processes and driven organizations forward to best-in-class supply chains. She brings a passion and commitment to the customer and a passion for leading teams to showcase their strengths and build a high performing team.

Karen is a Professional Engineer with an engineering degree from Queen’s University and an MBA from York University.

When she's not working you can find Karen on the ski hill, the golf course or hiking up hills as fast as she can!

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David Austin

Chief Financial Officer

Joined Compugen in 1996

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As the Chief Financial Officer, David is responsible for all aspects of finance, budget, taxes and accounting for Compugen; he also oversees the IT group.

David began his career in finance, first working for a national accounting firm, and then moving on to Superior Propane as the Vice President of Finance and later its Chief Information Officer. He joined Compugen in 1996 as the Director of Finance.

David has a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and an MBA from the University of Toronto, and holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation. David spends his summer weekends fishing and ATVing in Haliburton and French River, and his winter weekends snowmobiling in Haliburton.

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Jeremy Erlick

Chief Operating Officer

Joined Compugen in 1999

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Jeremy’s passion for technology and sales began during his teenage years. While at university he had a part time job selling clone PCs to colleagues, teachers and friends. This developed into a full time job after university and launched his career in the IT industry.

Jeremy joined Compugen as an Inside Sales Representative in 1999. Since then he has held a variety of sales roles. After 6 years as a top achieving Account Executive, he led the Government Branch in Central region from 2006-2012, achieving consistent year-over-year sales growth. Now as Vice President of Sales for Compugen’s Central and East regions he is responsible for more than $350 million in annual sales for the company and more than 100 sales employees.

Key to Jeremy’s success has been the ability to build sales teams recognized for performance excellence and collective accountability; exceeding all goals at organizational and personal levels. Jeremy has consistently succeeded in helping Compugen to align technology solutions that effectively enable the businesses we serve. He has a strong business acumen and many years of experience understanding the business issues of our clients across a multitude of industries. Additionally, he has successfully designed and driven a number of transformative initiatives within Compugen’s own business.

Jeremy holds a B.A. degree in Sociology from York University.

His hobbies include automobile racing, downhill skiing and family weekends at the cottage.

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Steve Glover

President and Head of Compugen Finance

Joined Compugen in 2007

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As President and Head of Compugen Finance, a subsidiary of Compugen, Steve manages a team of leasing and asset disposition specialists across Canada. This includes: setting up customers’ leases, overseeing the logistics and operations of reselling or recycling used IT equipment, and ensuring data security on all machines that pass through the Compugen warehouse.

Steve started his career in IT in 1974 as a peripheral operator for Royal Bank, where he mounted tapes on tape drives and printer paper on printers in their nascent data centre. He remembers the mainframe computers were enormous, the size of half a small train, and the peripherals were the size of a fridge.

Since then, he has held executive positions at a number of leasing companies and was the owner of CDI Computer Dealers, which he sold just prior to joining Compugen in 2007.

In 2012, Steve was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his volunteer work with the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness, a non-profit that focuses on providing support to victims of abuse.

Steve is an amateur musician and plays keyboard and guitar in a pick-up band with his son. Recently they have been playing cover tunes of Crosby Stills & Nash and the Beatles.

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Marty Grosh

Vice President of Services

Joined Compugen in 1997

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As the Vice President of Service Solutions, Marty provides leadership to Compugen’s national team of consultants, business analysts and professional problem solvers, and helps customers make sure their IT environments are helping their businesses perform better than they expect.

Marty got started in the IT industry by accident, when as a summer student he volunteered to write a computer program for his employer. He joined Compugen in 1997 as a professional services consultant and has since held a variety of positions before becoming a member of the executive team in 2011.

Marty is a board member with the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) for Managed Services and Technology Services Providers and has led a number of strategic initiatives with Frontier College. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta. Amongst his many passions outside of work are a love of world travel and unwavering support for the Edmonton Oilers.

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Terry Mirza

Chief Sales and Marketing Officer; President of Compugen Systems Inc.

Joined Compugen in 2001

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Terry’s career spans more than two decades of experience in the Canadian IT sector beginning at IBM as the shift to e-business solutions began.

Since joining Compugen as a Corporate Account Manager 20 years ago, Terry held multiple roles in the sales organization before becoming VP of Sales Canada West and United States in late 2014. Over the past two years, Terry played critical roles both in Compugen’s initial and ongoing expansion into the U.S., as well as in the company’s acquisition of Metafore.

Based in Vancouver, Terry travels widely for his role throughout North America. He has built a world-class, national team garnering 13 President’s Club Awards in recognition of the success he and his team have helped his customers obtain.

Along with hockey, soccer and cultural pursuits, Terry enjoys red wine from the old world, a nice craft beer from the local brewery and spending time with his wife and daughter. When he isn’t playing soccer or spending time with his family, he is working with community organizations such as Canuck Place and Community Living BC, local associations such as the Vancouver and Toronto Boards of Trade and various Chambers of Commerce.

Terry also sits on multiple boards, including those of C21 Canada, a non-profit supporting Canadian educators in their goal of preparing young Canadians for 21st-century life, and Kamloops Innovation, an incubator of technology start-ups. He is a member of the Canadian Cloud Council.

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Dean Reid

Vice President of Information Technology

Joined Compugen in 1989

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As the Vice President of Information Technology, Dean Reid oversees Compugen’s assets and infrastructure, telecommunications and business systems. This includes management of the company’s datacentre, networking environment, security, and all enterprise business applications.

Dean started his career as a programmer, using punch cards at his rural Manitoba high school, and has seen how the IT industry has evolved from 30-pound Compaq portable computers and 5 ¼ inch floppy disks, to tablets and cloud computing.

He joined Compugen in 1989 and in his early years with the company, he was an applications developer and a business analyst, responsible for mapping business needs to IT solutions. He was then promoted to IT Director and building on that experience, he joined the leadership team as Vice President of IT in 2012.

Dean holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Brandon University. Outside of the office, Dean enjoys snowboarding and playing golf. His favourite ice cream flavour is rum raisin.

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