Peachtree Corners innovation lead moves to smart lighting firm Juganu

Brandon Branham, the former Assistant City Manager and Chief Technology Officer of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, has joined Israeli smart lighting company Juganu as Vice President of Connected Solutions.

The move comes after more than a decade in local government, where Branham was a key figure in the city’s efforts to position itself as a real-world testbed for emerging urban technologies.

Branham’s new role will focus on supporting cities across North America to deploy Juganu’s technology, which integrates multiple smart city functions–such as lighting, connectivity, sensors, and edge computing–into a single street-level device.

“I had not seen any technology that holistically brought together the many different pieces of smart city technology into a single hardware platform,” he told Cities Today. “This unique ability to deliver across so many different applications and outcomes for cities is what drew me to Juganu.”

His perspective is shaped by direct experience. During his time in Peachtree Corners, the city installed 16 of the company’s nodes as part of a pilot.

“We started collecting new information within hours about our playgrounds that we never had before, leading to improved maintenance and enhanced security for the downtown,” he said.

Branham’s time in Peachtree Corners began when the city incorporated in 2012. He held various leadership roles, including Finance Director, and oversaw several technology-focused initiatives as part of the city’s broader strategy to attract innovation and investment. One of the most high-profile efforts was the creation of Curiosity Lab, a 2.4-kilometre autonomous vehicle and smart infrastructure corridor.

“If I had to pick one [achievement], it would have to be being a part of the creation of Curiosity Lab,” he said. “It turned out to be a major success and has led to over 2,400 new jobs and over US$1 billion worth of investment into the city by the private sector, along with being the site for several world’s first deployments of technologies and autonomous vehicles.”

He says the project’s success was underpinned more by mindset than by technology.

“The most important thing I always tell other cities to learn from what Curiosity Lab created is not deploying the latest in technology, but about being open to the ‘yes’. We created partnerships with the largest companies in the world because we were willing to say yes and find a way to make it work.”

Branham said his municipal background will help inform how he works with other cities.

“I have been in the seat of the Assistant City Manager, CTO, and Finance Director, where you have decisions you have to make on several projects and budgets are limited, so you need to get the maximum amount of output from your infrastructure,” he said. “My passion to make communities better didn’t change with this move, it just opened up an opportunity to help more.”

He also reflected on what he’ll miss about local government.

“No where do you ever get the chance to have such an impact on the lives of citizens than in local government,” he said. “I will miss the many things that the day-to-day citizen doesn’t even realise is happening… and the local government coworkers, who work day in and day out to ensure your water turns on at the sink, that your trash is picked up, your roadways are clear, and permits are getting issued.”

Peachtree Corners is expected to post a job listing soon to fill part of the responsibilities Branham is leaving behind. The new position will focus on innovation management and serve as Executive Director for Curiosity Lab, but will not carry the broader duties of an Assistant City Manager.

Image: Branham / Peachtree Corners