Name: Ian Coughlan
Title: Business Development Associate
Role: Helping customers find opportunities for water savings!
1. How did your background lead you to Banyan Water? What drew you to the company?
“Growing up, I spent a lot of time outside, typically on or near water canoeing, skiing or going to the
beach. This inspired a real love of nature and the outdoors, which eventually led me to Colorado College
to study Environmental Sciences. When I found a company that was making the business case for
conservation and sustainability, I knew I hit the jackpot. Working with people who are as passionate
about water conservation as I am and helping show others that this is not only good for the planet, but
also their profits makes me excited to come into the office every day.”
2. How is Banyan different from other IoT companies? What is its greatest differentiator, both from
other water management companies and other companies utilizing IoT technology/concepts?
“One thing that really separates us is the power inside our software platform, Banyan Water Central. It
brings everything you need to know about your water use—including irrigation, indoor and cooling
tower information—into one place in an easy-to- understand format. The platform simplifies the
reporting process for sustainability professionals and makes it easy to identify where in a portfolio water
saving improvements are needed.”
3. When you’re not saving billions of gallons of water, what do you like to do in your free time?
“I’m an outdoor nut, so you can always find me doing anything active or outside. I’m currently living
about four blocks from the beach in San Francisco, where I’ve been able to surf before and after work.
I also am a volunteer whitewater raft guide with ICO, an organization that’s affiliated with the Sierra
Club. Taking kids into the outdoors who might not get that experience otherwise is really powerful, for
both the kids and myself. Hopefully the kids will be motivated to get into conservation as well!”
4. What is the most interesting IoT-related trend—regardless of industry—that you’ve seen? What about specifically in the water management space?
“I’m really excited to see how the IoT revolution affects multi-disciplinary industrial communication.
Using water as an example, I imagine large water users like agriculture and municipal utilities will
automatically communicate with dams and reservoirs to help manage load distribution more efficiently.
In addition, utilizing IoT hardware and machine learning will make de-centralized water treatment and
redistribution of treated water for applications like cooling tower and irrigation use more efficient while
responding to real time demand.”