Our People
Meet Bob Haley
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
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With a passion for emerging technology, Vice President of Data Centers Bob Haley is eager to partner with clients around the world to explore the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Bob joined Jacobs in 2024 and is working closely with our teams to continue expanding our portfolio and developing our talent to keep pace with industry needs. He remembers early in his career the first time deploying new data solutions on projects and ever since has enjoyed experiencing the constant technological evolution and seeing how it impacts the way we communicate and share information.
He’s spent more than 35 years working with global organizations that specialize in federal, oil & gas, healthcare and technology projects and has a long history of building client relationships and overseeing large-scale teams for data center campuses around the world.
When he’s not working, Bob enjoys golfing, hiking, and spending time with his wife and their three grandchildren. He’s also an avid Corvette and classic car enthusiast.
“With the rapid expansion of AI, we’re reinventing how we access and share data on a global scale. We have a tremendous opportunity to drive the next generation of technological advancements that will allow significant enhancements to our everyday lives for decades to come.”
Bob Haley
Get to know Bob
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35
years he's worked in the engineering industry
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4
sectors he's worked in — federal, oil & gas, healthcare and technology
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45
number of classic cars he's owned since high school
What excites you about the future of this industry?
With the deployment of AI and the sharing of a common data retrieval platform, the next generation of data centers means we’re moving from a hypothesis-driven data environment to a data-driven platform — significantly improving the speed at which we see advancements in our lives. Using more sophisticated technology and equipment will enable us to better manage overall energy consumption, lowering these facilities’ carbon footprint, and making a huge difference in climate response initiatives.
What is the biggest challenge in your market?
Resources have been and will continue to be a challenge in the market. The need for data centers is outpacing the ability of firms to staff accordingly, and with the advancement of AI, other industries are putting an even greater demand on our engineers. Supply chain challenges will also contribute to the problem given with other businesses competing for the same materials and resources including electrical generation. The benefit of the increasing demand for electrical generation is that there’s an opportunity for us to offer our energy practice services to the data center market in the future.
What are the most essential skills as we prepare for a more technology-driven future?
It’s important more than ever to have engineers who understand the fast-paced AI data center market. This will only further enable us to design flexible electrical, mechanical, and telecom delivery systems that meet the current and future needs of our clients. I want to position Jacobs as the undisputed leader in this market, so we are the first call our current and potential clients make.
What do you enjoy most about being part of #OurJacobs?
After 35 years in the industry, I was excited to join Jacobs and work closely with other market leaders. We’re currently the #1 data center design firm, and I look forward to seeing how we can build off past successes and expand our service offerings — especially as the AI market matures — to support our clients even more. We will see more development companies enter the data center market, but Jacobs is the only firm that has the expertise to work with these new clients on an end-to-end solution.