Our Mission:
We Turn Compliance Into Momentum
Pilotlight exists to help the experts behind our buildings move faster, act earlier, and prove their impact — building by building.
The built environment is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. Buildings and construction account for roughly 32% of global energy consumption and 34% of global CO2 emissions — and most of the buildings that will exist 30 years from now are already standing today.
Real climate progress won't come from what we build next. It will come from transforming what's already there.
The people with the greatest leverage over that transformation are mechanical contractors and building engineers. They design, maintain, and optimize the systems that determine how buildings perform. Yet many operate in reactive environments — constrained by outdated tools, complicated compliance requirements, and manual workflows that consume far more time than they should.
Pilotlight exists to change that. We shift building performance from reactive to proactive. We turn compliance into momentum. And when we free up the people who know these buildings best, they can focus on the work that actually creates value — for their clients, their business, and the planet.
Our Values:
What We Believe
These aren't aspirations — they're the standards we hold ourselves to every day.
Integrity: Tell the truth about performance, progress, and impact — even when it's uncomfortable. Trust is earned slowly and lost quickly, and we protect it fiercely with our clients, partners, and team.
People First: Buildings don't improve themselves — people improve them. We put relationships above transactions and will never prioritize profit over people.
Tenacious Progress: Climate progress is built through militant incrementalism. Quarter inch by quarter inch. We are relentless in our pursuit of measurable, compounding improvement.
Relentless Excellence: We build tools worthy of the professionals who depend on them. We sweat the details. Excellence is not an event — it is the standard we apply to product, process, and partnership.
Learn-It-All Mindset: Curiosity is our advantage. We are humble enough to admit what we don't know and confident enough to figure it out. We adapt quickly and learn faster than the market.
Our Story:
It Started With a Simple Observation:
The people responsible for making buildings perform better were spending most of their time on work that shouldn't require their expertise. Chasing data. Compiling reports. Navigating a compliance landscape growing more complex by the year.
At the same time, a massive regulatory shift was underway. Cities and states were raising the bar on building energy performance — with new standards, real deadlines, and financial penalties for non-compliance. Mechanical contractors, already stretched thin, were being asked to carry even more.
We saw an opportunity to use AI and smart workflow automation to remove that burden and give time back to the people who know how to use it best. Not to replace their expertise — to amplify it.
That's what Pilotlight is built to do. And we're just getting started.
Behind the Stars
Stars on their own are just dots. Constellations happen when you draw the lines — when you impose meaning on complexity. That's the Pilotlight idea.
Our design reflects what we do: connecting buildings, contractors, and compliance requirements into something coherent and navigable.
Constellations are also ancient navigation tools — a nod to helping contractors find their way through regulatory complexity.
And the sky above? A reminder that this work is part of something bigger. We're all operating under the same atmosphere.
Meet the Founders
Jeff Nichols
Managing Partner and Co-Founder
Jeff is a seasoned software and people management veteran with over two decades of leadership experience at fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, and Armanino. Jeff sees climate change as the single most important challenge of our lifetime—and this focus drives his passion and commitment toward developing and leading people to recognize their value and achieve the impossible.
Taylor Gordon
Partner and Co-Founder
With extensive expertise in cloud solutions, automation, and complex system integrations, Taylor oversees Pilotlight’s platform development and technical capabilities. A seasoned leader with a background in various industries including manufacturing, healthcare, and digital technology, Taylor excels in managing and mentoring teams while driving strategic initiatives.