Nicholas Pilkington is a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of DroneDeploy, a company that provides a unified platform for capturing digital reality through the use of drones. He originally came from Johannesburg, South Africa and pursued his studies in computer science, mathematics, and information systems at Rhodes University. After completing his undergraduate studies, he started his Ph.D. in machine learning at the University of Cambridge, where he was granted a Nelson Mandela Rhodes University Scholarship. While at Cambridge, Pilkington co-founded Bitx, which is now known as Luno.com, a popular cryptocurrency exchange. Pilkington's expertise in machine learning and data science has been instrumental in the development of DroneDeploy’s platform, which provides a range of aerial drone services, including mapping, surveying, and inspection, to industries such as agriculture, construction, and mining. He oversees the technical direction of DroneDeploy, including the design and implementation of the platform's algorithms, user interface, and backend architecture. Pilkington is also responsible for managing the company's technology stack, which includes open-source software such as React, Node.js, and Python. Pilkington has been recognized for his contributions to the technology industry. He was listed on Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Enterprise Technology in 2016, and DroneDeploy was named one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2018. As DroneDeploy continues to grow, Pilkington remains focused on leveraging the latest advancements in machine learning and data science to provide seamless and efficient digital reality services for businesses and organizations worldwide.