Meet Robert

As the leader of Booz Allen’s health business, Robert Smith helps clients build and implement executable strategies, modernize their IT systems, and integrate ideas that deliver transformative solutions and value to their toughest requirements.

Previously, Robert served in Booz Allen’s defense business leading its support of the various Joint Combatant Commands located throughout the world. In this role, he engaged the brightest minds of the firm to deliver technology, warfighter advancements, security cooperation, readiness and training, and policy solutions to the U.S. military services.

A retired U.S. Army officer and former UH-60 pilot, Robert holds a B.S. in engineering from the United States Military Academy and an M.S. in engineering technology from Murray State University. He also attended the executive education program at Stanford University and the senior executive program at the Columbia University School of Business.

Why are you passionate about the work you do at Booz Allen? My passion comes from my own curiosity of technology and how it can be used to help my clients.  When coupled with the amazing minds that work at Booz Allen, there are no limits to what can be achieved.

What are some highlights of your career? My former career in Army aviation helped stimulate my own interest in technology and crystallized my understanding of how important it is to pay attention to the details. The technical aspects of operating and maintaining complex machinery give you a deeper appreciation of our dependency on the many machines and information systems that surround us.

How do you help your clients move into the future? I’ve discovered that it’s more important to show clients what's possible in terms of technological solutions, innovation, and asymmetrical approaches to problem-solving than to just talk about it. It’s rewarding to watch them mature in their own appreciation of what they can use to advance their missions. 

What do you see for Booz Allen in the next 100 years? I see an evolving and enduring institution, capable of adapting to virtually any environment or set of conditions. It’s already proven that Booz Allen has some of the finest minds in the industry, and with our “innovation DNA” we have all the ingredients to apply these skills effectively to our client’s problems.

What is the biggest challenge facing your clients? Probably the weight of bureaucracy and the occasional regulatory contradictions. Succeeding under those circumstances is truly extraordinary. 

What keeps you awake at night? The deteriorating geopolitical situation throughout the world. There is a great deal of instability present that invariably affects our nation and even our clients’ requirements. 

How do you help clients stay positive? We encourage out-of-the-box thinking and try to anticipate our clients’ needs. We’ve tailored ready-made solutions that can be considered by them in an expedited fashion. 

What keeps your team motivated? The satisfaction that we’ve helped our clients achieve their missions to the best of our ability. Our teams identify with our clients’ missions and have the requisite energy and drive to apply solutions to their problems.  Our work often requires bizarre hours, but it’s definitely worth it.

What's the best business advice you've been given? Don’t rely on a single strategy but pursue multiple approaches to increase the probability of success. If you rely on a single customer, a single technology, a single contract—you frankly won’t be able to sustain prolonged growth. Second, act with integrity and honor in everything you do. The benefits are incalculable.

What were you like in high school? I’ve always been curious about science and technology and how things were put together. I often took things apart that I most certainly wasn’t supposed to disassemble. Sometimes, I even put them back together.

What advice would you give yourself as a young professional? I stayed at one company for 24 years. I would have told the “younger me” to pursue his passion a little earlier. Also, behave with integrity—that’s always the best path for professional longevity.

What’s something you feel nostalgic for?  Strangely enough, occasional freedom from technology. Our connectivity is wonderful, but we don’t need it every waking second.

What is something most people don’t know about you? I really have a passion for aircraft. It’s something that’s hard to explain unless you’ve sat at the controls of an aircraft in flight.

What is an idea or invention you wish you’d thought of? I started my career during the Microsoft and Apple revolution, so it would have been neat to be involved in the Silicon Valley explosion at the outset of the computer industry.

What can we all do to be happier in life? Take the long view. If you’re stuck in traffic, don’t think of the immediate car in front of you. Hitch yourself to the bigger meaning. Have an overarching plan for yourself, your life, your family, and your business—never lose sight of it. Don’t get caught up in the day-to-day occurrences that seem to occupy most of our time lately.