William Lawler

William (Bill) Lawler is a senior strategy director and Operational Technology (OT) leader with nearly two decades of experience driving innovation across smart building technology, corporate sustainability, energy management, and building systems optimization.

He currently serves as the Vertical Markets Solution Strategy Director at Distech Controls (an Acuity Brands company). Operating within the Product Management division, Bill collaborates with cross-functional teams spanning product development, marketing, sales, and education to craft deployable strategies that accelerate growth for Acuity Intelligent Spaces across key vertical industries.

Prior to joining Distech Controls, Bill spent over five years in executive leadership at Wells Fargo, serving as Executive Director and Vice President of OT Strategy. In these roles, he directed OT system architecture, hardware and software preventative maintenance, and asset lifecycle management across the bank’s national real estate portfolio, while partnering with sustainability teams to pilot emerging energy and water efficiency technologies.

Bill’s background also includes serving as Sustainability Director and Senior Portfolio Energy Manager at JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), where he acted as a Subject Matter Expert in lighting systems and sustainable design. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Lightserve Corp and EDI (A Shealy Company).

Bill holds a B.S.B.A. in Management from the UNC Charlotte Belk College of Business, completed the U.S. Navy SERE program, and holds credentials including LEED AP O+M and Lighting Certified (LC).