Drew DePriest’s Playbook for Evaluating APIs Without Blowing the Integration Budget

This NexusCon 2025 presentation is a straight-talking deep dive into why so many “open API” promises fall apart in real OT environments. Drew DePriest, Director of Real Estate Operations Technology at McKesson, shares lessons from running API-driven integrations that support mission-critical facilities for a company responsible for roughly one-third of the U.S. pharmaceutical supply.

Rather than theory, Drew focuses on how APIs actually behave once they’re wired into data pipelines that feed ESG reporting, energy analytics, and operational decision-making. The talk reframes APIs as plumbing—not magic—and explains why poor design and documentation can quietly turn into six-figure mistakes.

Behind the paywall, Drew breaks down what separates usable APIs from budget-draining ones: red flags like weak documentation, inconsistent schemas, missing sandbox environments, and “open” APIs that still require massive custom work. He explains how McKesson evaluates APIs before they ever touch a production data layer, why getting closer to the source often beats API-to-API integrations, and how owners can avoid locking themselves into fragile cloud-to-cloud dependencies.

If you’re an FM, OT leader, or IT partner responsible for connecting building systems at scale, this recording will sharpen how you evaluate vendors—and help you avoid spending $200,000 just to move data you already own.

Watch the full recording inside Nexus Pro →