Jacobs names Pragada as chief executive

Pragada has more than 30 years’ civil engineering and business experience including 17 years with Jacobs. He also spent nine years as a Civil Engineer Corp and Seabees officer with the US Navy.

Pragada’s careers has also included time as facilities director at Camp David (the US president’s country retreat) during the Clinton administration.

He is the second Indian American to graduate from the US Naval Academy and the first Indian American, military veteran and person of colour to be appointed CEO of Jacobs.

Pragada joined Jacobs in 2006, holding several senior management positions over the ensuing eight years, including senior vice president for global sales; group vice president for the northern region (US and the Republic of Ireland) and vice president – field services.

In 2016, after 18 months as president and CEO of Houston-based Brock Group, Pragada returned to Jacobs as president of the global industrial and buildings & infrastructure divisions and led the successful integration of CH2M, a US$5bn diversified technical services company in the infrastructure, water, environmental and nuclear sectors.

Pragada was also instrumental in Jacobs’ investment in PA Consulting, a multi-billion-dollar digital consulting firm, where he now serves as a main board member.

In 2019, Pragada was appointed president and chief operating office of Jacobs, taking executive responsibility of all global operations.

Pragada is a graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a Master of Science in engineering and management. He serves as a trusted advisor to Eaton (Director), Brightstar Capital (Advisory Council Member), the Dallas Mavericks Foundation (Advisory Council Member), the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation (Director), and most recently Mr. Pragada was appointed as the 2022 Chair of the Dallas Regional Chamber.

Speaking ahead of the group’s annual results meeting on 24^th January, 2023, Pragada said: “It is an exciting time for Jacobs … Concentrating our strategy accelerators around climate response, data solutions, and consulting and advisory services, we’re anticipating the global trends most important to our clients to develop differentiated, data-enabled solutions that meet their needs.

“I am honoured to take on the role of CEO and advance the compelling work underway to further diversify our capabilities and offerings, increasing opportunities and value for our people, our clients and our shareholders alike.”

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