John Gilbert (Getty Images, iStock/Photo Illustration by Steven Dilakian for The Real Deal)
John Gilbert, Rudin Management’s long-serving technology chief, is signing off next week after a three-decade tenure with the firm — but he won’t be going far.
Starting Monday, Gilbert will turn his attention to his other role as executive chair of Rudin subsidiary Prescriptive Data, the smart building and climate technology company he co-founded in 2015 with Gene Boniberger, Rudin’s head of building operations.
“When I was first hired, I was told that I would be taught the ‘Rudin way’ of doing business, its ethos and culture, and some day way off in the future help its transition to the next generation,” Gilbert said in a statement. “That day has come.”
Gilbert, who has been Rudin’s chief technology officer since joining the firm 29 years ago and later took on the added role of chief operating officer, will continue to serve as a strategic advisor “on various ongoing initiatives and activities tied to sustainability, technology, and Rudin Ventures,” the company said.
As an expert on sustainability and proptech, Gilbert was instrumental in Rudin’s early forays into smart buildings, including 55 Broad Street in 1995 — which the firm has called the city’s first “fully wired” office building — and the redevelopment of 130 West 12th Street, co-chair and CEO Bill Rudin said in a release. Smart buildings use information technology to connect various subsystems, improving their efficiency and autonomy and reducing their environmental footprint.
Gilbert played a key role in the development of Prescriptive Data’s smart building operating system, Nantum OS, now deployed across tens of millions of square feet of commercial space in North America. Nantum OS uses machine learning and AI to optimize energy usage, reduce costs and improve “tenant comfort.”
Prescriptive Data launched Nantum’s tenant engagement app in 2019 at Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Rudin’s co-development with Boston Properties and WeWork. And in 2020, it launched its digital twin platform, which offers managers real-time insight into space utilization and building “anomalies.”
Prescriptive Data is looking to “dramatically” expand its headcount in 2022, Rudin said.
