We sat down with Tom Doherty to learn more about his career in the mission-critical industry, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and how his expertise will support data center projects at J2H.
Ok, let’s dive in. Can you share a bit about how you started in your career?
I went to a small school in Western Massachusetts and studied two majors - my undergraduate degree was in environmental science and biology. After graduating, I started working for an engineering firm, Syska Hennessy, in New York City. I was really lucky to get that opportunity through a family relationship, and it started me on the engineering path. The firm I was working for focused on classic engineering - mechanical and electrical engineering. That experience gave me the foundation to understand how building systems work and how to analyze them and find solutions. I was lucky enough that this firm put me through graduate school, and I got my Master’s in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University.
How did you get started in the telecom industry?
I was hired by one of our customers from the engineering firm, New Jersey Bell. At the time, New Jersey Bell was one of the seven companies in a holding entity called Bell Atlantic. I spent 25 years at New Jersey Bell, which then became Bell Atlantic and then became Verizon. At Verizon, I moved ahead in the business and ultimately had responsibility for virtually everything related to real estate, whether it be planning a project or initiatives, planning, designing, constructing, operating, or overseeing what they did with their real estate portfolio. We had 160 million square feet of space and 130,000 employees. Working for Bell Atlantic and Verizon was a great underpinning for me, although I always knew I wanted to translate these skills to other businesses and not just work in telecom.
What are some of the most significant projects you’ve worked on in your career, and what impact did they have on the industry?
I was responsible for the Fios network build-out for Verizon–a national fiber-optic technology build all over the country. It was very innovative at the time in improving telecom infrastructure throughout the U.S. Getting fiber to people’s homes was a radical idea at that time. It was mission-critical. There was no room for the network to go down or not operate. The goal was to be in all NFL cities within 24 months–all of them–and we couldn’t use any facilities we already had, so it involved all new acquisitions. I led the team in finding the space and then designing, building, and operating the facilities. There is a level of rigor involved in the design, building, and operations of these projects that was critical to their success. Fiber-optic cables are now household names, but at the time, this was cutting-edge, and Verizon led the way for the industry.
Following 9/11 in 2001, Verizon faced significant challenges, including $1.7 billion in damages from the destruction of its network infrastructure. My role wasn’t on the network side, but more on real estate and facility recovery. We had to quickly find new office spaces for 3,600 employees who suddenly lost their workplaces, though fortunately not their lives. It was the most complex project I’ve ever worked on, involving rapid coordination to restore operations while navigating an unprecedented crisis. This experience taught me how to manage high-pressure situations and make quick decisions—skills that proved invaluable in later projects.
Later in my career, I was a consultant for General Dynamics Mission Systems in Scottsdale, Arizona. There I was tasked with a complex consolidation project involving 1.7 million square feet across two major facilities. These buildings housed classified engineering and manufacturing operations for components used in sensitive government agency devices. The challenge was relocating operations to a new facility across the city, which had a 40% vacancy rate at the time. My job was to create a feasibility plan for consolidating three business units—engineering, manufacturing, and other functions—into one building. Over a year and a half, I worked closely with executives to determine the timeline, costs, and logistics to ensure the successful move.
Each of these experiences taught me the importance of strategic planning, staying flexible, and getting things done right.
What have you learned from working on the professional services side of the mission-critical industry?
When I decided to move on from Verizon, I became Principal of a professional engineering firm called WB Engineers | Consultants. I was responsible for creating a brand new profit center in the Washington, DC metro area, and that meant building everything from scratch–from the team to our client base, and everything in between. Going from a Fortune 12 company to nothing teaches you a lot. It really cut my teeth on what business development was like and how to think beyond the theoretical framework of how a business works.
Given my experience on the owner side, I didn’t want to create just another engineering firm. My focus was on building a team and a practice that enabled decision making for owners, and raised the standard on communication for engineers. Particularly on mission-critical projects, engineers need to be at the table early and effectively communicate so owners fully understand their risks and options–and are empowered to make decisions, not just receive advice. And fortunately, with the help of the team, that’s exactly what we built.
WB DC is still very successful today and following these principles that were instilled in the business. For me, it is great to see where everyone who started with us has gone in their careers and what they are achieving today.
How did you end up in the data center industry?
A buddy of mine, Jake Carnemark, ran the mission-critical department of Skanska, doing all the data center builds across the globe. He had decided to go out on his own and create a family of companies under the parent company, Aligned Energy, because he had a vision of building better, smarter, and more sustainably. As part of that, one of the companies he was forming was a new data center development company called Aligned Data Centers. Obviously, building data centers isn’t cheap, so at the time Jake was raising capital with a private equity company called Blue Mountain Capital. I was still at WB at the time, so the role my team and I played was underwriting the new technology Aligned was proposing.
I worked for Blue Mountain directly to understand and underwrite the technology, which was dramatically new and different in the market. I knew it was a leading-edge idea, but my team and I were tasked with making sure technically from an engineering perspective, everything would work. And fortunately, it did.
Between meetings with Blue Mountain and Jake, we knew Aligned also needed to figure out a way to operate these data centers once they were built, so given my background, I decided to join Aligned as COO. I built the full operations team–a team that was truly impressive. We had folks that had ran some of the largest data centers and critical infrastructure across the world. And the technology was so new and innovative, we were geared up to go global very fast.
After we built the first two data centers in Dallas, TX and Phoenix, AZ, and got them operational, I moved on to consult and help Capital One, IBM, and General Dynamics with their mission-critical needs. Aligned has been incredibly successful and is well-known in the industry today, so it was great to be involved in the roots of its development.
What are the top challenges you see data center providers or developers facing in the industry today?
One of the biggest challenges is meeting capacity demands, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence and the massive infrastructure required to support it. On top of that, supply chain issues are a major hurdle. Developers are responsible for getting these facilities built as quickly as possible, but the process is complicated. First, they have to navigate entitlement and land use approvals, and often deal with opposition from communities concerned about the impact of these projects. Getting past regulators is one thing, but once approved, building the facility is actually the easier part.
The real difficulty lies in the supply chain. Electrical components and mechanical systems are expensive and facing delays due to shortages. Developers are feeling the squeeze here, and even when they can get the necessary components, they may still face another problem: utilities. Sometimes, the local utility can’t provide the power these data centers need. This is pushing developers to consider locations they wouldn’t have looked at before, but the challenge is that these new areas often lack the fiber-optic connectivity necessary for data centers. It’s not just about having one or two providers; they need multiple telecom providers to ensure reliable service, which adds yet another layer of complexity for developers these days.
Are there any new technologies that you've seen data center owners and operators embrace that are improving their operations?
Although it's not new, one of the most innovative technologies I’ve seen is mechanical cooling, specifically the Aligned technology that reduced both water and power consumption and was very innovative for the industry at the time.
Cooling is critical in data centers at the moment because of the immense heat generated by the computing side of AI, which is where all the machine learning happens. The heat generated by this computing work is so intense that some systems now rely on direct liquid cooling, where liquid cools the servers by directly absorbing heat from the components. I’ve heard of several vendors now implementing direct liquid cooling systems, which is a new technology for the industry and improving efficiencies.
Another interesting development is the move toward microgrids. Some data centers are generating their own power on-site, which can be much more efficient than relying solely on external utilities. While solar and wind won’t meet the enormous power demands of data centers, microgrids—small, localized power plants on campus—offer a more viable solution. These facilities can even sell excess power back to the utility, reversing the meter. Some utilities are on board with this and even help fund the capital build since it helps bypass the community issues that come with building larger, centralized power plants.
What’s next for the industry?
With AI and hyperscalers driving massive demand, the data center industry is being reshaped once again. Ten years ago, most people didn't even think much about data centers, but now they’re a topic of conversation for everyone. The advanced equipment produced by AI companies is far more demanding in terms of electrical consumption, which generates significant heat that requires intense cooling. All of this comes when power supply is becoming more constrained, especially with the push for greener energy sources. Traditional carbon-based utilities are struggling to meet the growing demand.
One possible solution is to build data centers in regions with excess nuclear power, like parts of Pennsylvania, where they can access the necessary electrical capacity. But the challenge doesn’t end there. These areas often lack the telecom infrastructure data centers need, particularly fiber-optic connectivity. Telecom companies want to be compensated to extend their networks to these new locations, adding another layer of complexity to the process.
At the same time, investor interest in the data center industry is growing. With the growing reliance on cloud computing and AI, data centers are becoming critical infrastructure, attracting more capital. I predict a rise in mergers and acquisitions as companies want to expand their footprint and meet the capacity demands.
With the industry advancing rapidly, what new offering could owner’s representatives provide to help developers meet the demands?
One key offering is working upstream to help define business requirements before a project even gets designed. Rather than simply executing a pre-designed project, an experienced owner’s representative can take vague executive ideas and turn them into a clear, actionable plan. They can provide valuable direction to architects and designers, ensuring the final solution not only meets the aesthetic or spatial goals but aligns closely with the business’s core needs.
Another crucial role of an owner’s representative is establishing clear project requirements before engaging the market. This prevents service providers from exploiting any ambiguity, which can lead to costly delays or inefficiencies. By overseeing the entire process—from the initial definition of requirements through project delivery—they act as a bridge between the business and all the service providers involved. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the project stays aligned with the business’s objectives and is executed efficiently and cost-effectively.
Learn more about J2H’s data center experience and how we can help on your next build.
