Michael Brown never expected to jump from the world of distribution and office supplies into the frontier of robotics. But while driving through Manhattan one day, watching window washers dangle off skyscrapers as they had for decades, he saw an opening — literally. The future, he thought, didn’t need to be hanging from ropes. It could be anchored in data, robotics, and automation.
Now, as CEO and chairman of Skyline Robotics, Brown is leading a company that’s not just reimagining window cleaning but redefining what’s possible on the exterior of a building.
A Robot on the Side of a Building Isn’t Just for Show
Skyline’s flagship product, Ozmo, doesn’t resemble a humanoid robot. It’s built around robotic arms commonly seen in manufacturing, repurposed for a very different setting: the side of a high-rise. Mounted on traditional building maintenance units (BMUs), Ozmo autonomously maps surfaces using LiDAR, calculating the optimal cleaning path hundreds of times per second.
The tech is fast — three times faster than a human window washer. But speed isn’t the main point. While Ozmo does a thorough job scrubbing glass, it’s also collecting data never before captured on urban buildings.
Cleaning Glass, Capturing Insight
Skyscrapers aren’t inspected nearly as often as you’d think, sometimes just once a decade. In the meantime, things degrade: sealants dry out, moisture seeps in, HVAC systems work harder, and energy efficiency drops. Skyline’s robots are turning a cleaning job into a real-time building health scan.
Armed with hyperspectral cameras and other sensors, these systems detect faults in seals, changes in facade materials, and other anomalies — insights that could affect everything from energy emissions compliance to insurance rates. Brown sees this as a shift from optical and schedule-based maintenance to data-driven upkeep, where you fix what needs fixing — only where and when it actually matters.
It’s a powerful value proposition. For developers, it’s the opportunity to protect billion-dollar assets and back up sustainability claims with hard data. For manufacturers, it’s the chance to see how their materials age in the real world. For cities, it could mean safer buildings and more efficient compliance.
Labor Shortage Meets Smart Augmentation
Skyline isn’t trying to replace people, it’s responding to a problem that already exists. In New York alone, the union labor force for window washing has shrunk from 1,500 to about 500 in the last decade. Meanwhile, high-rises are getting taller and more abundant.
Most window cleaners are over the age of 40. It’s dangerous, aging work with a shrinking workforce. Skyline positions its robots as labor augmentation, not substitution. By pairing with commercial cleaning firms and working within the existing regulatory ecosystem, Skyline avoids disruption and instead brings reinforcement.
In fact, one of its biggest achievements was working alongside New York’s Department of Labor to become the first company ever approved to operate autonomous window-cleaning robots in the city — arguably the world’s strictest market for working at height.
The Road to Global Reach
Though Skyline began in Israel and now operates in New York, interest is pouring in from all corners of the globe. Brown sees this as an opportunity for true global dominance, perhaps not across all buildings, but within the vertical slice of skyscrapers tall enough to require cranes.
There are about 68,000 such buildings globally. Skyline is rolling out its tech in partnership with major crane manufacturers, including a newly inked exclusive deal with publicly traded Alimak, a company that controls a majority of global BMU infrastructure. That pipeline includes hundreds of new projects annually, giving Skyline a scalable route into cities everywhere, from London and Tokyo to Dubai and São Paulo.
And because Skyline’s product can be integrated directly into new construction, developers can future-proof buildings before a window ever needs cleaning.
What Comes After Windows?
Brown doesn’t think the impact ends at skyscrapers. He points to similar high-cost, high-risk cleaning environments like maritime shipping — where cleaning hulls in dry dock can cost millions per day — and even reusable rockets in aerospace. Any environment with scale, structure, and grime could be fair game.
But for now, the focus is on refining the product. Brown’s approach is deliberate: crawl, walk, run. Skyline has moved past crawling, is comfortably walking, and is inching toward a sprint. The plan is to build smarter, lighter, and more scalable robots, products that not only clean faster but also help buildings operate smarter.
Skyline Robotics is part automation, part AI, part infrastructure reimagination. It’s a startup with skyscraper-sized ambitions. And if Brown’s vision plays out, the skyline of the future won’t just be taller. It’ll be smarter, safer, and perhaps a little bit cleaner.
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