Billy Hinners’ career in software spans 40 years with both startups and large companies and roles in both software product development and enterprise IT.

Most recently, Billy defined digital strategy as VP of Technology for nationwide residential solar startup, Sunrun.  Billy’s Sunrun innovations resulted in multiple patents, a Department of Energy SunShot award and Sunrun’s rapid rise to IPO.

Previously, Billy worked for several years at Autodesk in a variety of software engineering roles in the San Francisco bay area, Switzerland and Australia.  Highlights included leading the AutoCAD product line and shortening the product development cycle by 50%.  Billy moved from product development to Information Technology at Autodesk where he became Chief Information Officer and led several $10M+ global implementations to boost automation and efficiency.

Billy’s background includes a variety of startup experiences.  He joined Autodesk through acquisition of his first startup, Cadetron, one of the earliest PC-based solids modeling applications.  During the dot-com boom Billy left Autodesk to run engineering for the Autodesk supply-chain logistics spinoff, RedSpark.  Later, Billy co-founded Lightmile to automate and optimize the design of photovoltaic systems, resulting in Sunrun’s acquisition of Lightmile.  During Billy’s tenure, Sunrun grew from an 80-person startup to a public company with over $3B in assets.  Currently, Billy is cofounder and CEO of a nascent enterprise software startup.

Billy received his Bachelor’s in Engineering Science and Mechanics at Georgia Institute of Technology.