In this episode of The Climate Gap: Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki interviews Ben Dwyer, who is SVP Global Sales at KODE Labs. Ben explains why pilots must now prove readiness for scale, not just technology, as CIOs and CTOs become the new power brokers for smart-building decisions. He shows how platforms can relieve staffing pressure, deliver finance-grade ROI, and avoid the classic trap of pilots that can’t roll out. Most pilots don’t fail because the idea is bad. They fail because the design, stakeholders, and standards don’t anticipate a thousand-building future, forcing rework at scale. Ben lays out the enterprise checklist: rigorous security and cloud reviews, data governance, interoperability, use-case standards, and network reliability across every site.

We dig into:

• Why do CIOs/CTOs now drive building OS decisions, and what does that mean for pilot scope, security, cloud architecture, and interoperability?
• Turning labor shortages into leverage: consolidating tools, shifting from reactive to proactive/predictive maintenance, and centralizing ops to handle alarms remotely.
• Financing that clears the CFO bar: reframing building OS as operational cash-flow optimization with immediate OPEX relief, CapEx-friendly structures (e.g., Sec. 179/bonus depreciation), and budget predictability.
• The “1,000-building test”: use-case standards, scalable network connectivity, service accounts, BACnet ID conventions, and designing for all user groups up front—so you don’t “re-do” the deployment later.
• A policy unlock: why federal tax incentives for smart-building operating systems could accelerate energy efficiency, ease workforce pressure, and extend asset life—just like past incentives did for solar and EVs.

About Ben Dwyer

Ben leads Sales and Go-To-Market at KODE Labs, focusing on helping portfolios drive operational efficiency with a unified building OS and a deployment approach that scales cleanly beyond a single site.

Watch/Listen if you are:

• A solution provider designing pilots that must scale across a portfolio.
• A CIO/CTO, real estate, or facilities leader who needs enterprise-grade security, governance, and interoperability from day one.
• A CFO/finance leader looking for tangible year-one OPEX gains, clear CapEx treatment, and budget predictability.
• Anyone tasked with proving that a building OS delivers measurable ROI at scale—not just in a demo.

The Climate Gap is powered by Element Six.

Element Six specializes in addressing talent challenges across the built environment and climate technology sectors. Partnering with technology vendors and solutions providers delivering decarbonization solutions, helping them find the leaders and teams they need to scale.

Decarbonizing the built environment takes bold ideas and brilliant people. Element Six brings them together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.