We interviewed Nicholas Gayeski from Clockworks Analytics in the fourth installation of our real estate tech entrepreneur interview series of 2021.

Without further ado…

Who are you and what do you do?

I am the co-founder and CEO of Clockworks Analytics, the leading smart building intelligence platform for healthcare, educational and corporate real estate facilities. We’re based in the outskirts of Boston, but our technology is deployed in more than 400 million square feet of facilities on four continents, which makes us the largest cloud-based building analytics platform in the world.

What problem does your product/service solve?

I started the company with two co-founders as I was getting my doctorate in Building Technology from MIT. Our initial mission was to utilize technology to reduce the wasteful energy consumption that is so common in buildings, but we quickly broadened our mandate. The issue we see in the industry is a startling lack of visibility: While a massive amount of data is collected by building equipment, facility managers are rarely given the opportunity to access that data in a way that makes it useful.

Our platform sifts through these streams of building data — identifying faults and diagnosing root causes — and then notifies facility teams of the most pressing issues. This enables Clockworks to help facilities professionals gain insight into the biggest issues affecting their buildings, ultimately reducing energy consumption and operating costs while improving equipment health by enabling predictive maintenance.

What are you most excited about right now?

As a company, we just underwent a rebrand (from ‘KGS Buildings’ to ‘Clockworks Analytics,) to align our corporate image with that of our Clockworks technology. We also recently raised an $8-million funding round from several highly-regarded venture capital firms. Our market penetration is growing rapidly, and this capital infusion will help us accelerate our product roadmap to further differentiate our software from other building technologies, while also bolstering our business development.  As our scale grows, our ability to derive insight meaningful to our clients and the entire industry grows as well.  And, our ability to use metadata and data from the connected base of buildings to connect other buildings faster accelerates our growth.

What’s next for you?

This is already in progress, but one of the most timely things we’re doing is helping improve indoor air quality — a huge concern during the pandemic. Like so many other aspects of buildings (energy consumption, etc.), there is rarely much visibility into the indoor air quality in a given building. And very few people realize that even buildings that recently had better filters installed aren’t necessarily meeting the air quality guidelines. Clockworks can flag equipment degradation that impacts humidity, outdoor air, filtration, or ventilation – all of which play a role in indoor air quality and environmental health – thereby making indoor facilities safer for occupants. Increasingly, equipment health and its impact on occupants is as important as energy.

What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

I don’t know if this would normally be called a social issue, but I’m very passionate about integrity, authenticity, and sincerity. Going hand in hand with that (and my academic background) is a passion for science and for keeping an open mind. From a historical and scientific perspective, I believe that climate change is a monumental challenge, and how we respond to it will be a defining characteristic of not just our generation, but generations to come. Solving a problem of this magnitude is not simple, but a choice I make to contribute to a solution is eating a pescatarian (in fact, mostly vegetarian) diet. It’s difficult for me because I really do love a good burger, but I think it’s one of the most impactful choices I can make.

Thanks to Nick for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.

We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop us a line (Community @ geekestatelabs dot com).