• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Troy Demmer

Gecko Robotics

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer

Troy Demmer is the co-founder and Chief Product Office of Gecko Robotics, the company combining advanced robotics and AI-powered software to help ensure the availability, reliability and sustainability of the critical infrastructure that powers our world - today and tomorrow.Troy met Gecko co-founder and CEO Jake Loosararian at Grove City College outside of Pittsburgh. After Jake
initially bootstrapped Gecko after graduation, he and Troy reconnected and saw the same vision for building a robotics company dedicated to solving real challenges in the built world. In 2016, Gecko Robotics was selected to be a part of YCombinator’s incubator class of promising startupcompanies. While many of Gecko’s peers built apps or solutions to day-to-day challenges, Troy and Jake chose to look at how advanced robotics and digitalization could help tackle an industry in critical need of modernization:global infrastructure. Gecko Robotics graduated from YCombinator with a lot of momentum and an acquisition offer. But Troy and Jake turned down that offer in favor of building the company their way. Today, Gecko’s innovative climbing robots capture data from the real world that was never before accessible: from pipelines, boilers, tanks, ship hulls, missile silos and other critical asset types. Gecko’s AI-driven software platform Cantilever then enables human experts to contextualize that data and translate it into operational improvements. Beyond Gecko’s work with energy, oil and gas, and manufacturing companies around the world, Gecko also works
with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy to protect and optimize maintenance plans for critical infrastructure. As Gecko’s Chief Product Officer, Troy focuses on helping Gecko’s robotics and software platforms evolve to meet the demands of critical industries in a time of widespread transition. Concurrently, he is responsible for Gecko’s Forward Deployed Engineering and Business Development groups, which work closely with leading-edge customers pushing the boundaries of new use cases/applications. Troy was instrumental in formulating the Gecko’s commercial strategy and go-to market operations across such sectors as power, oil & gas, and pulp/ paper, as well as standing up its distribution and operations teams. Prior to Gecko, Troy worked in Finance and Operational roles at UPMC, where he gained fluency in managing numerous moving parts while contributing to market expansion and workforce development for Pennsylvania’s largest nongovernmental employer. After earning his BA in Finance and Economics at Grove City College, Troy attended CMU’s Tepper School of Business before dropping out to pursue Gecko full time. In 2019, Troy was named to the Forbes “30 Under 30” list for Energy. 

Sessions With Troy Demmer

Wednesday, 20 March

Thursday, 21 March

  • 05:00pm - 06:00pm (CST) / 21/mar/2024 10:00 pm - 21/mar/2024 11:00 pm

    Spotlight | "NextGen" Future Energy Leaders

    Future of Workforce/Diversity & Inclusion

    The race is on for innovative, fresh approaches to solve the world’s greatest energy and climate challenges. The emerging generation of future energy leaders, technologists and entrepreneurs have unprecedented opportunity for impact and to create real change. The energy world is hungry and open to disruptive ideas. There never has been a more exciting—or urgent—time to be part of the energy industry. Join this special interactive “Next Gen” dynamic session, featuring rapid-fire insights by leading minds on energy innovation, along with CERAWeek Future Energy Leaders. How can we achieve net-zero ambitions? How can we tackle climate change while meeting the planet’s need for more energy? What are promising and scalable technologies? What are the challenges and most exciting opportunities?