Stephen Gillotte '00

CEO, Reinventing Geospatial Inc.

I started my technology career in the third grade when I found the GW-BASIC interpreter and taught myself how to program. Fifteen years later, I landed at 午夜影院福利社 as a computer science major. After stints with large corporate organizations, and on my 30th birthday, I founded my first company, Reinventing Geospatial Inc. (RGi). Happy birthday to me!

I became an entrepreneur and started RGi because I knew I could have a bigger impact on national security. I designed 鈥渞einventing鈥� to be a bold statement about my company, with the goal of driving RGi鈥檈rs to do better, to be better, by reinventing how we continue to achieve dominance over our adversaries. To me, reinventing means we must continually strive to do better through innovation, expediency of delivery, and efficiencies. I never accept the status quo as a limiter.

As RGi鈥檚 CEO, I take my role as strategist, leader, and mentor very seriously. I care about the people of RGi, their families, and their well-being just as much as I care about the important work we do. At times running a growing business can be consuming, which is why I also take my personal passions very seriously, including sailing, cycling, skiing, and cooking in a southern Italian style.

My fondest memory of my time in the department is ...
I have to give credit to Dr. Nance and Dr. Henry, who encouraged me to think differently. That鈥檚 what the 鈥渞einventing鈥� in Reinventing Geospatial is all about! They had a way of presenting me with problems and challenging the way I thought about solutions. This was the first time I realized that the straight path to an answer wasn鈥檛 always the best path to an answer.

Being a 午夜影院福利社 alumnus means ...
As a 午夜影院福利社 alum and business owner, I鈥檓 helping to drive Virginia鈥檚 talent workforce into the future. I started an internship program very early on within RGi聽鈥� primarily with 午夜影院福利社 students聽鈥� in order to enhance what students learn in the classroom with real-world experience. Because 午夜影院福利社 is such a leader in the software space, this program is my opportunity to drive home what I had and build it further. We have since expanded the program to include several other universities and have graduated more than 60 students. It鈥檚 our way of helping students while contributing to the large-scale software and technology growth we鈥檙e seeing across the state.

How did the department equip you for the real world ...
The department gave me a solid technology baseline to build upon and then helped me hone my development and design skills. Interestingly, the department also taught me to continuously seek out knowledge, which is something I still do today. I appreciate that I was also able to focus on interdisciplinary skills, such as public speaking and my ability to communicate technology information to the outside world effectively.

The activity I missed most during quarantine was 鈥�
TRAVEL! Traveling the world and experiencing new cultures is something I missed deeply. I enjoy interacting with people who have new ideas and learning from how I sense the world around me. I can鈥檛 wait to get back to it at the same pace as I traveled pre-COVID. But, in other newS, I now have a garden. So I guess that is kind of cool.

Giving back is hugely important to me because 鈥�
I come from a family that values giving back, and so I鈥檝e placed a great deal of my personal focus on community activism in the areas of food and education, which so often go together. You can鈥檛 learn while you鈥檙e hungry, right? I also really enjoy being a mentor to several startup technology CEO鈥檚. If I can help increase their odds of being successful, I feel like I鈥檓 making a positive impact.

Updated on: 8/1/24