Burns & McDonnell’s Adam Matthiesen: Investing in People, Technology and the Next Generation

Date Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted In: Discussion, Organizations, People, What we are thinking about,

by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum

When Adam Matthiesen talks about the future of Burns & McDonnell, he doesn’t begin with artificial intelligence, mega-projects or record growth.

He starts with people.

“Employee ownership drives everything we do,” said Matthiesen, who became general manager of Burns & McDonnell’s Midwest Region on July 1. “Our people are what make our clients successful.”

That philosophy has guided Matthiesen throughout his 17-year career with the employee-owned engineering, architecture, construction and consulting firm. After beginning his career in Houston as a civil engineer designing electric transmission projects, he has steadily advanced through engineering, project management, construction leadership and regional operations before assuming responsibility for one of the company’s most important markets.

Today, St. Louis serves as one of Burns & McDonnell’s largest regional offices and consistently ranks among its strongest-performing locations.

A Career Built on Growth

A native of southwest Texas and a graduate of Texas A&M University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering, Matthiesen joined Burns & McDonnell during the economic downturn of 2009. Although based in Houston, much of his early work took him to projects in Kansas, illustrating the firm’s national reach.

His career evolved from design engineering to project management before he transitioned into construction leadership in 2018. That move eventually brought him to St. Louis to lead the company’s Transmission & Distribution Global Practice.

“When I arrived, the practice had about 125 people,” Matthiesen said. “Today it’s grown to roughly 240.”

He became Midwest Region operations director in 2024. He assumed the general manager role at the start of July, as longtime leader Breck Washam begins his transition toward retirement.

St. Louis Plays a Critical Role

Burns & McDonnell employs approximately 13,000 employee-owners worldwide. Within the Midwest Region, about 550 employees are based across multiple offices, including roughly 350 in St. Louis. St. Louis is the the fourth largest regional office by headcount.

Nearly every Burns & McDonnell global practice is represented locally, allowing the office to serve clients across virtually every infrastructure and industrial market while leveraging expertise from throughout the company’s national network.

Culture Evolves—Core Values Don’t

Matthiesen is careful to distinguish between changing culture and evolving culture.

“I love that you used the word ‘evolve,'” he told Construction Forum. “Culture evolves, but the core principles stay the same.”

Those principles include employee ownership, serving clients and investing in employees’ careers.

He has seen that evolution firsthand. Seventeen years ago, Burns & McDonnell was primarily known as an engineering company. Today, approximately 70 percent of the company revenue comes from integrated design-builder.

Technology, remote collaboration and changing client needs have all influenced how the company operates, but Matthiesen says the firm’s emphasis on developing people remains unchanged.

“Our goal is to help people build careers—not just jobs.”

AI as Another Engineering Tool

Like nearly every engineering firm today, Burns & McDonnell is embracing artificial intelligence while recognizing its limitations.

“AI is evolving incredibly fast,” Matthiesen said. “But human oversight and accountability aren’t going away.”

He compares today’s AI revolution to previous industry transitions from hand drafting to CAD and later to BIM.

“It’s another evolution,” he said. “At the end of the day, the engineer responsible for the project is still accountable.”

Internally, Burns & McDonnell has developed enterprise-wide AI tools, including “Experience IQ”, which rapidly analyzes project requirements and matches them with employees whose experience best fits a client’s needs.

Rather than replacing expertise, Matthiesen sees AI helping the firm better leverage the experience of thousands of employee-owners across the company.

The Biggest Challenge: Finding Talent

Despite unprecedented opportunities in infrastructure, energy, manufacturing and technology markets, Matthiesen says the industry’s greatest challenge remains finding enough qualified people.

“It’s both engineers and craft professionals,” he said.

Burns & McDonnell continues investing heavily in STEM education, university partnerships and community outreach to introduce students to engineering careers earlier.

The company participates in regional STEM events, works with local schools and supports initiatives that build awareness of engineering as a profession.

“If we don’t invest now,” Matthiesen said, “we’ll face an even greater shortage five or ten years down the road.”

Developing Future Leaders

Leadership development is another major priority.

Burns & McDonnell recently launched an expanded leadership development program aimed at preparing employees for increasing responsibilities while improving collaboration across offices and disciplines.

Matthiesen believes future success will depend not only on recruiting talented people but also on creating opportunities for them to grow.

“My focus is helping people develop their careers,” he said. “Putting them in positions to be successful is my top priority.”

Looking Ahead

Although Burns & McDonnell continues to grow nationally, Matthiesen says the company’s strategy remains remarkably consistent: invest in people, embrace innovation responsibly and strengthen relationships with clients and communities.

For St. Louis, that means continuing to leverage one of the firm’s largest and most diverse offices while helping develop the engineering and construction workforce the region will need for decades to come.

“We want to be known not just as one of the largest engineering firms,” Matthiesen said, “but as the best place for engineers and construction professionals to build their careers—and the best partner for our clients.”