James L. Connaughton is a globally distinguished energy, environment, and technology expert, as both a corporate leader and White House policymaker. Mr. Connaughton is Chairperson of the Board of Nautilus Data Technologies, a high-performance, ultra-efficient, and sustainable data center infrastructure company that licenses, manufactures and operates proprietary water-cooling and integrated building system technologies to enable rapid global delivery.
Before joining Nautilus Data Technologies, he served from 2013-2016 as Executive Vice President of C3.ai, a leading enterprise AI software provider for accelerating sustainable digital transformation. From 2009-2013, Mr. Connaughton was Executive Vice President and a member of the Management Committee of Constellation Energy, one of America’s cleanest, competitive suppliers of electricity, natural gas, and energy services.
In 2001, the US Senate unanimously confirmed Mr. Connaughton to the position of Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In that role, he served as President George W. Bush’s senior advisor on energy, environment, and natural resources, and as Director of the White House Office of Environmental Policy. During his eight-year service, Mr. Connaughton worked closely with the President, the Cabinet, Congress, and state and global leaders to develop and implement energy, environment, natural resource, and climate change policies. An avid ocean conservationist, Mr. Connaughton led the creation of four of the largest and most ecologically diverse marine resource conservation areas in the world, for which he received Oceana’s Ocean Champion Award.
Mr. Connaughton is a Senior Advisor to X (Google’s Moonshot Factory), Applied Materials, Shine Fusion Technologies, and GSF Upcycling. He is also a Senior Advisor to the ClearPath Foundation, a member of the Advisory Boards at Columbia’s Global Center on Energy Policy and Yale’s Center on Environmental Law and Policy, and a member of the Board of Directors at Resources for the Future and the American Conservation Coalition.