Linesight has appointed John Butler as CEO from 1 January 2027, a succession that puts a leader who built the firm’s Asia-Pacific and Middle East business in charge as the consultancy plans continued double-digit growth.

Linesight, a construction consultancy headquartered in Dublin, provides cost management, project controls and project management across data centres, life sciences and high-tech sectors, with more than 2,500 people in 44 offices across 30 countries, up from 700 people in 20 offices in 2021.

IPS-Integrated Project Services, a Pennsylvania-based life sciences engineering and construction management firm that acquired Linesight in 2021, heads a group of more than 4,500 people generating about $2bn (€1.8bn) in net revenue.

Butler has spent 25 years at Linesight and built its Asia-Pacific and Middle East business to more than 600 people, while Scott Halyday succeeds him as managing director for APAC and the GCC.

Butler said he began his career at the firm as a graduate and sees a significant opportunity to extend reach in markets where clients are investing, while Boylan said Butler’s knowledge of the business, people and clients positions him strongly to lead.

The succession reflects where Linesight’s growth sits: Butler’s region supports four of the top ten technology companies in the Fortune Global 500 and has delivered more than 200 data centre projects across 15 countries.

JLL expects global data centre capacity to nearly double from 103GW to 200GW by 2030, with Asia-Pacific growing from 32GW to 57GW, the region Halyday now leads for Linesight from Singapore.

Capex at the 14 largest public data centre developers is forecast to reach nearly $750bn (€690bn) in 2026 against less than $450bn (€414bn) in 2025, with 23.1GW under construction across 831 sites, according to BloombergNEF.

For the sector, cost and programme consultancies serving technology clients are scaling at the pace of their clients’ capital plans, and leadership transitions that keep regional operators in senior roles help preserve client relationships built over years.

Source: Irish Examiner / JLL / BloombergNEF