By Svend Agne Strømmevold Published: 26.12.25 01:00 on Retten.no

One has navigated global executive leadership teams for companies such as BMW and Cisco. The other has led international developer teams, including at the financial giant Goldman Sachs. Now, the childhood friends are putting everything else aside and betting on a joint venture.

- We’re going 100 percent all in. We’ve put our house, our partners, our cars - everything - on the line, says strategy expert and former Røros resident Bjarne Rugelsjøen with a glint in his eye.

In their respective industries, Rugelsjøen and Pål Høye have built impressive international careers after leaving Røros more than 20 years ago. At the same time, both appear deeply proud of their hometown and their connection to the historic mountain community.

Høye and Rugelsjøen have developed an app designed to help companies with strategy work and make the process more engaging for employees.

With their company, BlueJam, they have ambitions to scale globally by 2026.

INTERNATIONAL: BlueJam is headquartered in New York, has a subsidiary in Norway, and employs people in Norway, Brazil, Poland, and the Philippines.

From Best Friends to Business Partners

Far from financial hubs and global strategy meetings, the boys from Røros grew up as best friends. They went to primary school and high school together, were classmates during their graduation year, played handball, and spent much of their free time together - often with childhood friend Vegar Dahl.

- We were best friends in Røros and have always stayed in touch. We usually meet when we’re there, often during the Rørosmartnan festival or around Christmas. And when I’m in Oslo, I always meet up with Bjarne, explains Pål, who has typically visited Røros on average every other year since moving to the United States.

Bjarne, who lives in Oslo, travels there several times a year, often with his family to their cabin in Brorvollen.

They have kept in touch all these years, but it is only through BlueJam that they finally get the opportunity to work together.

- After we moved away, we met occasionally and exchanged experiences. But that’s how it is with good friends - you can go a long time without seeing each other, and then reconnect instantly,” says Bjarne.

The New York adventure got off to an abrupt start

When Pål Høye arrived in New York in the spring of 2001, it was with a dream of working with the best in the world. He had just completed his studies and military service, and the young man from Røros was ready to work as a programmer in Manhattan and lay the foundation for what would become a long career in programming, technology leadership, and finance.

But just months after he moved, he witnessed one of the most dramatic events in recent American history.

- I was standing there watching when the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center, he recalls.

WITNESSED THE TERROR ATTACK: Pål Høye got an abrupt start to life in New York when he witnessed the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

From his apartment by the Hudson River, he had a direct view of the skyscrapers, and on September 11 he watched the terrorist attack unfold before his eyes.

As Pål was on his way to work that day, he suddenly noticed people pointing up at the iconic buildings and saw large amounts of smoke coming from the Twin Towers. Like so many others, he immediately assumed it must have been an accident. But as he continued walking, he saw the second plane hit the building, and it became clear to him that this was no accident after all.

When he arrived at his workplace, located in the well-known Puck Building in Manhattan, he went up to the roof and watched as one of the towers began to sway before collapsing in front of his eyes.

The frightening experience left an indelible mark on the Norwegian, who had just begun his adventure in America.

“When I worked there, they had 12,000 programmers and an IT budget of eight billion,” - Pål Høye. The American Dream

For more than 20 years, Pål has lived and worked in New York. In his early years, he worked as a programmer, building e-commerce web solutions, before moving into the financial sector, including developing software for hedge funds.

This background proved to be a strong foundation for his role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at one of the world’s largest and most prestigious investment banks, Goldman Sachs.

- Goldman Sachs develops a lot of software in-house. When I worked there, they had 12,000 programmers and an IT budget of eight billion, so we’re talking about operations on a very large scale, Høye explains.

He points out that New York is known as the place in the world with the fastest pace, the most energy, and the highest ambitions - and that Goldman Sachs, in particular, is characterized by being the most ambitious and energetic firm in the city.

- It’s an extremely ambitious environment, and many of the most talented people in the world come to work there. It’s incredibly inspiring, and you learn a great deal from being part of it.

A Fun Time

Even in such a highly professional, well-established, and multicultural work environment, Pål quickly realized that “people are people.”

- Over time, you discover that people are people, whether they’re from New York, Røros, or Tokyo. You get used to working with individuals from very different backgrounds, and that becomes less and less important. Instead, you start seeing people for who they really are, he says.

Høye spent six years at the company, with responsibility for teams in New York, London, India, and Tokyo. He later moved into a role as Head of Engineering at the technology company Tapad, where he led a development team working on digital marketing solutions.

After his time at Tapad, he became CTO at CB Insights, where he worked with IT and software development for the company’s market intelligence platform.

- That’s where I built the team. The company grew very rapidly in a short period of time, and it was a fun time, he recalls.

EXECUTIVE LEADER: Pål Høye has held senior leadership positions at several technology and finance companies since leaving Røros.

He knows what, I know how

Even with a career that gave him the chance to work at some of the world’s most renowned companies, Pål always had the idea of starting his own business in the back of his mind.

- I was basically just waiting for the right time and the right idea. Bjarne always said there’s a lack of good tools to help companies with strategy, and he had a lot of ideas for how such a solution could look, he explains.

With Pål’s experience in programming and software development, and Bjarne’s background in strategy, they were the perfect match to start BlueJam together.

- Bjarne knows what needs to be built, and I know how to build it, so it worked really well for us to collaborate. It’s a pretty special experience to be on Times Square and then take a flight to Oslo, and finally to Røros with its wooden houses, snow, the cold, and horses on the streets, says Pål Høye.

From Skyscrapers to horse-drawn carriages

It wasn’t until he moved away from Røros that Pål realized just how unique his hometown is.

- After living in New York for a while, I appreciated Røros so much more. You realize how special it is and how much it has to offer. It’s like a little fairytale town, and I think it’s completely unique in the world, he says.

The contrast between the small mining town and the American metropolis still fascinates him.

- I find the contrast between Røros and New York fascinating. They couldn’t be more different. It’s quite an experience to sit on Times Square, then fly to Oslo, and finally arrive in Røros with its wooden houses, snow, the cold, and horses on the streets, he laughs.

Pål believes his upbringing in Røros shaped who he is today, a fact made even clearer by life in New York. He describes Røros as a safe, clear, and open place for children to grow up, where they can explore freely without danger.

- You are shaped by your upbringing, and I think I gained a lot of integrity growing up in a place like Røros. It’s quite different in New York, where people are more focused on themselves, and you can’t always trust others, he explains.

Bjarne also reflects on how his Røros roots set him apart.

- There’s something about the working-class community in Røros - you speak your mind, for better or worse. I think I brought the positive side of that with me, like respecting people for who they are, not just their title, he says.

He believes these qualities have served them well in their careers.

- I think it made several leaders I worked with appreciate collaborating with me, because in other places people were often too intimidated to speak their mind, Bjarne adds.

Off to London with Ambitions

Like Høye, Rugelsjøen aimed to work with the very best. He pushed for opportunities with the “godfathers” of strategy, gaining direct access to top management at companies like Panasonic and Nokia.

LEARNED FROM THE BEST: Bjarne Rugelsjøen developed an early passion for strategy and landed a position with the “godfathers” of the industry.

While working as a senior consultant at Bekk Consulting in 2001, he discovered his lifelong interest in strategy.

- At that time, the internet was new, and everyone was trying to figure out business models around it. I worked on strategy implementation for a client and thought it was very exciting and fun. It’s about working together with leaders on the future of the business, the strategy, and the choices to make.

A few years later, he moved to London, where he got married, had children, and continued to lay the foundation for his career. Since he had decided to focus on strategy, he contacted the most recognized professors in the field—Kaplan and Norton - known as the godfathers of balanced scorecards.

- I read up on Kaplan and Norton and thought, why not try to get a job with them? It’s not always the case that those at the top have thought of everything, quite the opposite, says Bjarne Rugelsjøen.

Got a job with the “godfathers”

He contacted the company, but since they weren’t hiring new people at the time, Rugelsjøen started working for PA Consulting while continuing to persist with Kaplan and Norton.

- Eventually, I managed to push my way in and got a job at the London office. The people I worked with were much older than me, but I was allowed to participate in strategy processes with large international companies and got a big boost in my career.

From post-it notes to a strategy platform

His job consisted of traveling around and helping corporate management teams prepare their companies to reach their goals.

- I helped them realize their strategies, and there was a lot of learning in that, because it’s not always the case that those at the top have thought of everything, quite the opposite, Rugelsjøen laughs.

While working in London, he traveled extensively, helping leadership teams, running workshops, and working on developing, operationalizing, following up, and communicating strategy.

- That was really when the idea for BlueJam arose, because there was so much PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Post-it notes, he remembers.

"I’ve thought about it a few times, especially when I was sitting in Munich having dinner with the leadership team, thinking: here I am, the little guy, with the big players. How did I get here?" - Bjarne Rugelsjøen

A bad strategic choice – didn’t understand what we were facing

Throughout his career, Rugelsjøen has worked with over 250 organizations. He has built broad experience and formed many thoughts on how strategies should be developed and implemented in large companies.

Technology has evolved rapidly since Rugelsjøen and Høye started their careers. Both have worked in industries that have undergone major changes over the last 25 years, while the rise of the internet and social media has shaped development.

The internet looked very different when Bjarne had a part-time job at one of the world’s first search engines while studying in Copenhagen. The Microsoft-owned company LookSmart was a content provider for the search engine AltaVista - one of Google’s predecessors.

- When you searched on AltaVista, it was us at LookSmart behind it. Me and two others were responsible for the Norwegian category. We sat and created the search results and entered them into a database. When Google came along, they used algorithms, but we focused on quality and didn’t believe algorithms could produce better search results than humans could.

In hindsight, Bjarne can’t help but laugh at how unprepared they were back then.

- But people often think like that. It was a bad strategic choice, and we simply didn’t understand what we were facing.

Started at Ottos Kro

- I’ve thought about it a few times, especially when I was sitting in Munich having dinner with the leadership team, thinking: here I am, the little guy, with the big players. How did I get here?

Even though the journey from Røros to the world’s boardrooms is long, the foundation for his career was already laid in Røros, and over the years Rugelsjøen has become increasingly aware of how many qualities he brought with him.

- I started working early, while I was still in school. My first job was at Ottos Kro, and there I learned to work hard, be efficient, and that the customer comes first. At that time, Jostein Øglænd was the boss, and it must have been the most efficient restaurant I have ever experienced, Bjarne recalls.

BROAD EXPERIENCE: Rugelsjøen gained extensive work experience in Røros and built a strong foundation before heading out to work in strategy and development.

After that, he worked in several of the businesses at Røros Hotel under Roar Arne Solli, where he also learned the value of working hard, but always with humor and a twinkle in the eye.

At Røros Sport, he learned customer service and entrepreneurial spirit from Rolf Magnus Engzelius, and at Fokus Bank, he gained a lot of knowledge about finance and came into contact with people from all walks of life.

– There are some important things you take with you from the mountains, and I have taken with me a lot of what I learned while working in Røros.

Both Pål and Bjarne are clear about how much of their identity is tied to their hometown, and Bjarne gladly takes every opportunity to speak positively about it.

– I always praise Røros when I’m out giving lectures. I often start with a picture where you can barely see Røros Church in the background. I usually say that I come from that place and ask if anyone knows where it is. There’s always someone who recognizes it and raises their hand.

Røros-based company with a base in New York

BlueJam has its headquarters in New York and employees in Norway, Brazil, Poland, and the Philippines.

On the company’s website, you can see illustrations of the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Oslo Opera House, and Røros Church side by side.

– In life, you do many different things, and the chapter we have opened with BlueJam is something entirely new. It’s incredibly fun to connect New York with Norway and Røros, and finally do something together, beams Pål.

Three years ago, they established BlueJam as an American company with a subsidiary in Norway.

– We want BlueJam to grow in the USA, because it is a much larger market, but we also want a solid foundation in Norway, because it’s a smaller environment and quicker to get started and test things out, explains Pål.

– Our goal is to become an international company that is a leader in strategy software. The first milestone was to build the software, and now we have begun marketing the company and building ourselves up in Norway and the Nordics. The next step is the US, adds Rugelsjøen.

ENGAGING: The BlueJam app is designed to make strategic work easier and more engaging for everyone involved.

One Click Replaces Large Teams

The BlueJam app is designed to make it easier and more intuitive for both large and small companies to implement their strategies and make the process more engaging for all employees. The tool not only makes tracking and development simpler and more enjoyable, but it also provides strategic analyses based on market and macro trends.

Using artificial intelligence, the app can, with a single click, identify a company’s competitors, see how they are positioned, detect industry trends, highlight potential focus areas, and offer recommendations for adjusting strategy.

- With one click, you can do what previously required large consulting teams, explains Bjarne.

Norway and Røros Need to Improve on Strategy

He believes experiences from international top environments also offer a clear perspective on Norwegian business.

- I find that many Norwegian companies and leaders are very good at stable operations. We are solid, reliable, and efficient in making everyday business run. But to succeed in growth going forward, we need to get much better at strategy - not just making plans, but setting clear ambitions and actually using strategy actively in daily operations.

Rugelsjøen also thinks leaders in Røros can benefit from having a more conscious approach to strategy.

- This applies to Røros as well, in both business and the public sector. Good results rarely happen by themselves. They are the result of leaders who can set a clear direction, make decisions, and mobilize people over time. When results fail to appear, it’s often not about effort, but about a lack of strategic direction.

For him and Høye, BlueJam is an attempt to make it easier to move strategy from boardrooms and documents into everyday work.

- It is only when strategy is actually used that it creates growth. That’s what we are passionate about - whether it’s in New York, Norway, or back home in Røros, he concludes.

Even though Pål and Bjarne moved away from Røros long ago, it’s clear that the place has remained important to the duo over the years. With BlueJam, they are taking new steps forward - but also returning to their roots.

Link to article: https://www.retten.no/byttet-ut-globale-styrerom-og-finanseliten-med-egen-tech-drom-na-gar-roros-vennene-all-in/f/5-44-1076829