In construction, disputes drain profits, along with time, trust, and sanity. That’s where Lee Mills, CEO and co-founder of Pixly.ai, sees an opportunity. With a background in the U.S. Navy, early stints in tech startups, and a career spent helping construction companies scale smarter, Mills is now leading a platform designed to make photo and video documentation effortless.
We sat down with Mills to talk about how his military experience shaped his leadership style, why construction tech became his calling, and how Pixly is tackling one of the industry’s most stubborn problems: project documentation.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview check it out on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/stmGA6-cRaw
“Failure Is Not an Option”: Lee Mills on building Pixly.ai and stopping construction chaos
UTHH: You have a Navy background in logistics and damage control. How did that experience shape the way you lead Pixly?
Lee Mills: Being a founder is hard. It’s challenging every single day. What the Navy instilled in me is simple: failure is not an option. You don’t quit, you just do the job until it’s done. That mindset drives me at Pixly. My job isn’t finished until we get Pixly into the hands of contractors everywhere.
It also taught me grit, determination, and teamwork. I see myself as a servant leader. My team doesn’t work for me, I work for them. My role is to make their jobs easier so we can move forward together.
UTHH: You’ve worked across several startups. What convinced you that Pixly was a problem worth solving?
LM: After the Navy, I cut my teeth in sales, doing nonstop telemarketing for long-distance solutions. It wasn’t glamorous, but it gave me thick skin and an entrepreneurial itch. My mom was a small business owner, so building something of my own was always in my DNA.
Once I finished school, I joined one of the earliest cloud startups, Backup.com, which was doing online backups before broadband was common. That experience led me to launch my own digital agency, Beyond Clicks, and from there, I moved between building companies and taking in-house roles in sales and marketing leadership.
Eventually, I worked with Raken when they were just getting started. That was my first deep dive into construction tech. I realized superintendents and project managers are exactly the kind of people I want to serve; they’re direct, hardworking, and don’t have time for fluff.
Everywhere I went, from Raken to PlanGrid to Cupix, I kept seeing the same issue: photo documentation was a mess. Even big firms with Autodesk or Procore in place were still texting and emailing photos back and forth. That’s where the idea for Pixly clicked.
UTHH: For readers new to Pixly, how would you describe the platform?
LM: One of our customers joked that Pixly is like Google Photos, Instagram, and Slack had a baby for construction.
It’s the easiest way to snap, tag, and share jobsite photos and videos. The app requires almost no training. Every image is automatically time, date, and location-stamped. You can tag an issue, say rust, water damage, or rework, add a voice-to-text comment, assign it as a punch-list item, and track progress in real time.
The goal is simple: stop the chaos of texts and emails. Save time, reduce stress, and give people more hours back in their day.
UTHH: Where does AI come into play?
LM: Our domain is .ai for a reason. The plan is that everything I just described, tagging, categorizing, even detecting defects, will eventually be automated by AI. We’ve already built proof-of-concepts with AWS grants.
Watch the mobile app demo here.
That said, customers don’t care if it’s AI or not. They just want the problem solved. Some are hesitant about AI, sure, but if it saves them time and protects them from disputes, the “how” matters less than the results.
UTHH: Adoption can be tricky in construction. How do you break through that resistance?
LM: Changing workflows is the hardest part. People get comfortable until a dispute happens, and about 30% of projects have disputes that go to court.
That’s why showing is better than telling. Once people see how easy Pixly is, they get it. And we’ve all seen bad software sold from the top down, where leadership mandates it and the field rejects it. At Pixly, we make sure the product works in the field first.
UTHH: You’ve mentioned some interesting use cases. Any favorites?
LM: Sharp Hospitals in San Diego is using Pixly for a half-billion-dollar expansion, and now for facility maintenance too. Another client runs 600 active kitchen and bath remodels a week and saves 45 minutes per project, per day.
We even have a tanning salon chain in San Diego using Pixly to track repairs on their equipment. If a bulb or fuse breaks twice, they use Pixly’s photo history to prove warranty claims and get a new machine. That same logic applies to construction equipment, hospitals, you name it.
So yes, it was born for construction, but it’s growing into facility management, insurance, and even consumer applications.
UTHH: Speaking of the future, what does success look like for Pixly in the next three to five years?
LM: Success is becoming the default. When people think “jobsite documentation,” they think Pixly. I’d love to capture 20% of the market and be the household name in this space.
At the same time, we’ll keep balancing innovation with simplicity. We’re rolling out customizable forms, blueprint pinning, and of course, AI. But the core principle never changes: it has to be super simple and intuitive.
UTHH: What advice would you give to founders trying to bring tech into traditional industries like AEC?
LM: Validate with customers first. Not your friends; they’ll tell you what you want to hear. Talk to people in the field. If they won’t sign a letter of intent or agree to pay for it, don’t build it.
For me, it’s been like raising two four-year-olds at once, my daughter and my startup. Both require full commitment. And don’t quit. This will cost you everything if you’re not all in. Find a mentor in the space… very seldom is somebody going to tell you good job. You have to tell yourself. You need grit, and a willingness to burn all the boats.
UTHH: That’s also sound parenting advice. Final word for our readers?
LM: You can try Pixly for free on iOS or Android. We’ve got a discount code: Q420, for anyone signing up before year’s end. At the end of the day, it’s about helping hardworking people spend less time on the job site and more time with family, friends, and the things that matter.
Want to check out Pixly.ai? Start a free web trial here: https://app.pixly.ai/#/signup or check out their website for more details.
Like this and want more like it? Stay ahead of construction tech trends. Subscribe to our newsletter for more industry insights.
