# Bryan Bennett

> Bryan Bennett is the CEO and founder of Cortex (formerly Cortex Building Intelligence, now Cortex Sustainability Intelligence), a New York-based software company that uses machine learning to cut energy use, costs, and carbon emissions in commercial buildings. Raised in a family that worked commercial real estate for four decades and trained as a management consultant advising utilities on smart-grid technology, Bennett built Cortex around a simple observation: buildings generate thousands of data points every minute, and almost no one was turning that data into action. His software-only platform now optimizes more than 50 million square feet, including the Empire State Building.

- **Role:** CEO and Founder at Cortex (Cortex Sustainability Intelligence)
- **Organizations:** Cortex Sustainability Intelligence, Booz & Company, Katzenbach Partners, CEB
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Brown University
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Cortex, a software-only building optimization platform, Grew Cortex to optimize more than 50 million square feet of commercial real estate, Counts the Empire State Building among Cortex clients

## Career timeline

- **2005** — Graduated from Brown University
- **2005** — Held a position at CEB
- **2009** — Joined Booz & Company, advising utilities on smart-grid technologies
- **2014** — Founded Cortex Building Intelligence in New York
- **2021** — Raised $6M Series A led by 4490 Ventures; total funding reached $11M
- **2021** — Cortex passes 50 million square feet of buildings on the platform, including the Empire State Building

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Cortex, a software-only building optimization platform
- Grew Cortex to optimize more than 50 million square feet of commercial real estate
- Counts the Empire State Building among Cortex clients
- Raised $11M total in venture funding with notable capital efficiency over seven-plus years
- Pioneered a software-only model in a market dominated by hardware retrofits

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Cortex warned that commercial real estate would face mounting emissions-reduction pressures in 2024 and published guidance on building decarbonization strategies.
- **2022-04** — Cortex (then Cortex Sustainability Intelligence) announced a new advisory board of commercial real estate experts.

## Links

- Website: https://cortexintel.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanbennettcortex
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/cortexbi
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/cortexintel

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bryan-bennett
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14