Tony Cornwell
Senior Vice President, Worley Consulting Americas

“I focus on what needs to be done, rather than what’s normally done. This mindset transforms the way we approach our customers’ mega projects.”

Tony Cornwell leads a team of specialized consultants at Worley Consulting, who solve complex challenges in the early stages of energy, chemicals, and resources projects.

“Our customers have big aspirations, and it’s our responsibility to factor in market conditions, drive innovation, and challenge the status quo to make their assets more resilient and sustainable,” says Tony.

“My role is to support our consultancy team to execute studies and technical assignments. I serve as the vanguard of our transition to the emerging realm of sustainability consulting. And we want to support our customers all the way to constructing, commissioning, and maintaining facilities.”

Overhauling the traditional approach to projects

Based in Houston, Tony oversees mega projects that dwarf the size of projects he worked on as a process engineer back in 2006, when he joined Worley.

“I would never have imagined you could execute such large projects back then,” he reflects. “Today’s projects – particularly those in Saudi Arabia – have different challenges to small or mid-sized efforts, so they require equally significant shifts in our approach.

“The key to success is implementing a program-level approach from the start. This is more efficient than the traditional approach, which involved many individual projects that would hopefully come together at the end. This caused delays, cost overruns and a lack of innovation.

“An integrated approach begins in the planning and feasibility stages and carries all the way through the engagement of fabricators, modular shops, shipping companies, and heavy equipment such as ring cranes,” Tony continues. “Success depends on maximizing all the tools available across the design, fabrication, and construction stages.”

Facilities that change the world

Tony relishes opportunities to be involved in globally significant projects, especially those that support Saudi Arabia to become a leader in sustainable energy and chemicals production.

“It’s a privilege to work with expert consultants all over the world the best consultants in the world and form close partnerships with our customers in the Kingdom,” he says. “They’re facing a big shift in energy production and utilization. But it’s an opportunity to envision facilities that would make them global leaders in sustainable transformation.

“Nowhere else in the world would I be able to bring together the best technical consultants and the world’s largest engineering firm. The best part of my job is seeing what our teams can achieve with customers that want to change the world.”