Allen Xi

Senior Vice President
Americas South/South Central Region
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Allen Xi is a passionate father, leader and mentor. He truly believes that the success of our company is because of our dedicated and talented employee-owners.

Allen joined Burns & McDonnell in 2000 and transferred to the Houston office a couple of years later, quickly becoming an instrumental part of the firm’s overall growth. As an electrical engineer, Xi specializes in substation design, power system studies and EPC project execution. He has led several major projects for key clients throughout the South Central region. Now, as senior vice president, he leads a workforce of more than 800 professionals in the region who provide engineering, procurement, construction and consulting services to clients in a wide variety of industries. He cares about the success of his clients and emphasizes the importance of the physical and mental well-being for his fellow employee-owners.

In the community:

He supports organizations including:

  • Boy Scouts Troop 1288, committee member
  • Montgomery County Community Assistance Center (CAC), volunteer
What inspired you to pursue your career?

I was supposed to be a medical doctor, following in both of my parents’ footsteps, but I was not selected by the best medical school in China. After the sting of disappointment subsided, I picked electrical power as my major, and the rest is history.

What’s the coolest part of your job?

Developing the next several layers of leaders by hiring those smarter and better than I am and then mentoring and pushing them to pursue higher levels in our organization.

How do you and your team make the world a better place?

In my previous role within our Transmission & Distribution Group, my team and I delivered reliable electricity to our customers. Reliable electricity is the fabric of modern society, but most people take it for granted until they don’t have it. I always think back to the Texas deep freeze in February 2021, when my household lost water and electricity. My two kids noticed but weren’t concerned until they realized that no power also meant no Wi-Fi — I could only smile at their concern and worry.