CEO of PILOT
Ben Brooks is the Founder & CEO of PILOT, an award-winning emerging leader development program. Inspired by his successful executive & business coaching practice, Ben saw an opportunity to develop leaders beyond the executive level, at scale, with a more innovative and inclusive model to reach those often overlooked in talent development. He invested his life savings into founding the company with a mission to “help everyone feel powerful at work.” PILOT’s core values of Vibrant, Inventive, Thoughtful, Ownership, and Striving, reflect his personal values and articulate the kind of culture he hopes all organizations can foster. PILOT was named a Top HR Product of 2020. Additionally, the company was listed as #1 HR Tech Startup to Watch in 2020, and HR Executive Magazine named Ben one of the Top 100 Influencers in HR & Technology in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. In partnership with S&P Global and MetLife anchor customers, PILOT has won industry awards for excellence in DEI Innovation, Coaching & Mentoring, and Women’s Leadership Development. The company is proud to be an NGLCC-certified LGBTQ-owned business, one of just ~a dozen software companies across the United States with this designation. Diageo, another long-term customer, named the company Supplier of the Year in Diversity Excellence in 2022. Previously, Ben held several management and HR roles at Lockheed Martin, Oliver Wyman, and Marsh & McLennan Companies, where his last role was as an SVP of HR. The though line in all of these roles was a focus on tapping unfulfilled human potential, fostering culture, and aligning people to strategy. While at Marsh, he was named a “rising star” by HR Executive Magazine and later was featured on its cover for his innovative work in talent and culture. Ben’s first job was working at a dog kennel at 12, and professionally, he started his career at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. In the community, Ben served on the board of directors for Out Serve-SLDN, the organization that spearheaded the successful effort to end the Department of Defense's discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and he co-founded the LGBTQ employee resource group at his management consulting firm Oliver Wyman (that continues to thrive nearly two decades later). In his free time, Ben enjoys doing remote work weeks in interesting locales, geeking out on aviation, embarking on global adventure travels, being a plant dad, and spending lots of time outdoors by the Hudson River. He's a proud University of Denver's Daniels College of Business graduate and resides in Manhattan with his beloved American Eskimo dog, Jetson.
