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Strategic Advisor·Smart Water

Patrick Decker

Former CEO (Xylem); Board Director (Johnson Controls, CRH); Poling Chair (Indiana Kelley) at Multiple boards; previously Xylem

Indianapolis, IN

PD
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Why they matter

The most accomplished water-technology CEO of the past decade, now actively investing in and advising the next wave of water infrastructure.

Background

President and CEO of Xylem from March 2014 through December 2023, overseeing the company's evolution into the leading global water-technology platform via the Sensus AMI and Aclara acquisitions and the $7.5B Evoqua deal. Now serves on the boards of Johnson Controls International, CRH plc (appointed October 2025), and Mass Eye & Ear, and is the Poling Chair of Business and Government at Indiana University's Kelley School. Actively engaged in venture investments focused on AI applied to water and other infrastructure.

Notable deals

  • 2023
    Led Xylem's $7.5B acquisition of Evoqua, one of the largest pure-play water-technology M&A deals in history.
  • 2025
    Appointed to the CRH plc Board of Directors.
  • 2025
    Named Poling Chair of Business and Government at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Call-prep brief

Background

Pat ran Xylem for ten years and personally architected the deals (Sensus, Aclara, Evoqua) that built the modern smart-water platform. He stepped down as CEO at the end of 2023 and is now active across CRH, Johnson Controls, Mass Eye & Ear, Kelley School, and AI-applied-to-infrastructure VC.

What he cares about

  • AI applied to water infrastructure, not as a buzzword but as operations economics.
  • The municipal procurement bottleneck. Most great water tech dies waiting for utility budgets.
  • Capital reallocation toward water as climate stress makes the asset class less marginal.

Recent moves

  • CRH plc board appointment (October 2025).
  • Poling Chair at Indiana Kelley (2025).
  • Active in venture endeavors focused on infrastructure AI.

Sensitivities

  • Speaks publicly with a Xylem-CEO frame even though he's left. Don't probe confidential Xylem matters.
  • Has built relationships with most senior water-utility CEOs. Treat as an industry-shaping voice.

Questions to ask

  1. Which water-infrastructure venture categories does he see as most underpriced going into 2026-2027?
  2. How does he see the AI layer reshaping operations at large investor-owned water utilities?
  3. Which mid-market water platforms is he most likely to back as an investor or advisor?

Outreach draft

Subject
Water-infrastructure investment thesis
Mr. Decker, I lead infrastructure investing at [Firm]. Our smart-water thesis is shaped substantially by the platform you built at Xylem, and we're now sizing where the next platform-scale opportunities sit (AI at operations, municipal procurement workarounds, mid-market roll-ups). Your perspective as the operator who built it and now invests around it is the highest-signal source we know of. Would you have 30 minutes for a structured conversation in the next two months? Happy to defer to your schedule. Best regards, [Your name] [Your firm]

Linked companies

Sources