A month into a new leadership role, something shifts. The noise settles, and patterns come into focus.

You start hearing the same challenges from different customers. You see where your teams are stretched thin. You notice the gap between what vendors promise and what they actually deliver.

This is what Greg Gillis is working to change.

Greg recently joined BuildOps as our first Chief Revenue Officer, bringing over 20 years of experience leading enterprise software teams in ERP, financial systems, and operations platforms — industries where software failures carry real consequences. During our recent revenue kickoff in Los Angeles, we sat down with Greg to discuss what he's learned in his first month, what contractors are really asking for, and what it takes to truly raise the bar.

Q: You've been here over a month. What patterns are emerging?

"The biggest one is a gap between expectations and reality.

Contractors — especially those running large operations — are far more sophisticated than most software companies give them credit for. They know what good software looks like, and they're tired of duct-taping together systems that were never designed to work as one.

What they're asking for isn't complicated: consistency. Fewer handoffs. Fewer surprises. A partner who treats their operation like the mission-critical business it is."

Q: You lead revenue. How do you keep that customer-focused?

"Revenue and customer experience have to move together.

The fastest way to lose trust is optimizing one part of the journey while neglecting the rest — closing deals fast but onboarding slow, promising big but supporting thin.

Real accountability means owning the entire experience, from the first conversation through year five of the partnership. That's the only way to build something sustainable."

Q: You've spent years in ERP and financial software. Why does that background matter here?

"ERPs are the financial backbone of any organization. The data has to be high fidelity. The system has to scale. And ease of use is paramount to driving adoption.

When your software handles payroll, billing, compliance, or keeps operations running, there's zero room for error. Execution matters more than salesmanship — every time.

Commercial contractors operate under those same pressures every single day. Our job is to match that standard and become the single source of truth for their operations."

Q: What do contractors need more of from software companies?

"Clarity — and a genuine understanding of how their business actually works.

Clear expectations from day one. Clear ownership when issues arise. Clear answers when things go wrong.

Most contractors don't want to be sold to. They want a partner who understands how they drive efficiency and scale their business. They want to know who's accountable when the pressure's on — and whether that person will still be there next year."

Greg joined BuildOps to make sure we grow the same way we build trust: with intention, consistency, and zero shortcuts. Because for contractors running high-stakes operations, "enterprise-grade" isn't something you promise upfront. It's something you earn — one job at a time, one year at a time, with relentless focus on delivering results and winning one successful customer at a time.