CEO Jim Gillespie Talks With Technical.ly Pittsburgh

Industrial Technology Sector Grows During Economic Downturns: ‘Saving money never goes out of style.’

Technical.ly Pittsburgh interviewed CEO Jim Gillespie about GrayMatter’s latest strategic merger and why the industrial technology sector is growing despite uncertain economic conditions.

Technical.ly reporter Atiya Irvin-Mitchell wrote that GrayMatter’s strategic merger with Columbus, Ohio-based Phantom Technical Services, Inc., announced in January 2023, is intended “to assist in expanding and meeting the increased demand from GrayMatter’s customers.”

Irvin-Mitchell asked about GrayMatter’s outlook given the possibility of an economic recession in 2023.

“We like to say saving money never goes out of style,” Gillespie said. “So, some of the projects might not get justified, but we will have plenty of our projects meet the threshold and we’re expecting to expand even through the recession.”

In addition to Phantom Technical Services, Technical.ly noted GrayMatter’s previous strategic acquisitions since 2020 of E-Merge Systems, based in Richmond, Va., and HTSE, Inc., based in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Gillespie said he has seen market tailwinds surrounding GrayMatter’s four key offerings: OT cybersecurity, advanced analytics, automation and controls and Brilliant Operations.

Cybersecurity projects are often “must-do” projects for industrial organizations that work with GrayMatter, he said, and so those projects get the green-light no matter which way the economy is trending.

GrayMatter’s CEO also noted that the federal government has allocated funds through the Inflation Reduction Act and other measures to help public organizations, such as water & wastewater utilities, modernize and secure critical infrastructure from cybersecurity threats.

Demand for GrayMatter’s industrial technology offerings is expected to remain strong in 2023, Gillespie said in the interview. One major reason for that demand is the focus that major manufacturers are putting on advanced industrial analytics.

Many manufacturers are looking to use analytics to start new optimization projects or augment lean manufacturing initiatives that are already underway.

“People like Dr. Pepper and Kellogg’s are sort of emerging analytics clients for us and we do a ton of stuff for municipalities and the midstream oil and gas market,” Gillespie said. “And local companies like PPG are 30-year clients of ours. There’s a lot of things we’re expecting to do together with them this year.”

Learn more about GrayMatter’s latest expansion here. You can find the full Technical.ly Pittsburgh story here, and an excerpt from the interview at the YouTube post below.